ENVIRONMENTAL
ESG STRATEGY
SOCIAL
GOVERNANCE
APPENDICES
INTRODUCTION
High-Performance Healthy Buildings
ESRT is committed to provide tenants with healthy work environments focused on the health and wellness of the people who occupy our buildings every day. Healthy buildings where we can work together and collaborate help to restore company culture after widespread office closures, increase productivity, and drive the bottom line. ESRT developed a program of strategies rolled out across the portfolio, in alignment with the Fitwel Certification (83% of NYC portfolio certified), WELL-Health Safety Rating (100% of portfolio certified) and industry-leading best practice. These strategies are illustrated in the figure to the right. INDOOR ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY (IEQ) For more than a decade, improving IEQ has been a key tenet of our sustainability strategy. Our industry-leading, comprehensive, and state-of-the-art program focuses on operational best practices to ensure healthy and productive spaces, including MERV 13 filters, bipolar ionization air purification technology, indoor air quality (IAQ) testing, CO 2 sensors, green cleaning practices, integrated pest management strategies, and low-emitting materials. In 2020, ESRT was the first commercial real estate portfolio in the Americas to achieve the WELL Health-Safety Rating across 100% of its portfolio and one of the first to recertify. The WELL Health-Safety Rating, developed by the International WELL Building Institute, is an evidence based, third-party rating focused on operational policies, maintenance protocols, emergency plans, and stakeholder education to address a post-COVID-19 environment and broader health and safety-related issues in the future. When faced with the most intense pandemic in over a century, ESRT developed a pathway for our employees, visitors, and tenants to return to the office with confidence. We are partners with the WELL Living Lab and Mayo Clinic to advance the study of the indoor environment’s impact on human health and to help develop practices that can be implemented across the country. ESRT is part of the WELL Living Lab Alliance, a global consortium of organizations that support the advancement of knowledge of IEQ to improve human health and well-being. Our engagement in this effort will extend the WELL Living Lab’s pioneering research at the intersection of health, building, and behavioral sciences. Through our partnership with Delos and WELL Living Lab, a company dedicated to the scientific research, evaluation, and solutions surrounding IEQ impacts on building occupants’ health and well-being, we help the industry provide guidance that our tenants can depend on to promote functional, energy-efficient, and human health–enhancing spaces. We continue to monitor and track performance as science, data, and knowledge evolve.
HEALTHY BUILDING MEASURES HUMAN EXPERIENCE • CO 2 Our portfolio is 100% WELL Health-Safety Rated and 83% of our NYC portfolio is Fitwel certified. -based Demand Control
Ventilation to ensure adequate introduction of fresh outside air for ventilation • Advanced LutronVive
AIR PURIFICATION • Active bi-polar ionization air purification system to improve air quality lighting control system to optimize daylight, glare and productivity balanced with energy efficiency
HEALTHY MATERIALS/ PRODUCTS • Sustainable purchasing, such as low or no VOC and no Red List materials in tandem with our High-Performance Sustainable Healthy Design and Construction Guidelines
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