Principal^® earns ENERGY STAR^® Partner of the Year Sustained Excellence Award

Principal Real Estate Investors, the real estate investment team of Principal Global Investors^®, has been named an ENERGY STAR^® Partner of the Year Sustained Excellence award winner for the fifth consecutive year. This recognition, the highest honor among ENERGY STAR awards, is reserved for ENERGY STAR partners that demonstrate outstanding leadership and superior contributions year-over-year.

A top 10 global real estate manager¹, Principal has been an ENERGY STAR partner since 2009 and continues to integrate energy efficiency into its Pillars of Responsible Property Investing (PRPI) initiative. PRPI is an overarching environmental, social, and governance (ESG) framework that Principal has used since 2013 as it seeks to deliver positive financial results and ESG outcomes through asset management and fiduciary governance. In 2021, the PRPI platform was enhanced to reflect current best practices, including the expansion from three (market resilience, corporate governance, and property performance) to five guiding principles: environmental performance, occupant experience, community impact, climate resilience, and managerial excellence. These principles align to the commitment by Principal Real Estate Investors to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

“Receiving the Sustained Excellence award for the fifth consecutive year is testament to the ongoing commitment our property management team and partners have made to sustainability," said Jennifer McConkey, managing director of ESG and operations for Principal Real Estate Investors. “With the enhanced Pillars of Responsible Property Investing as our guide, we are committed to investing in high-performing, energy-efficient properties that minimize the impact on the environment while delivering attractive returns for our clients.”

ENERGY STAR certified buildings use an average of 35% less energy than similar buildings nationwide and have been shown to have higher occupancy and rental rates.² Since 2008, Principal has achieved 14% energy savings, avoided more than $48 million in cumulative energy costs, and prevented more than 135 thousand metric tons of cumulative carbon dioxide emissions.³ In 2021 alone, Principal achieved:

• ENERGY STAR certification at 31 properties.
• An average ENERGY STAR score of 77 for certified properties, meaning these properties perform within the top 23% of peers across the country.

Each year, the ENERGY STAR program honors a group of businesses and organizations that have made outstanding contributions to protecting the environment through superior energy achievements. ENERGY STAR award winners lead their industries in the production, sale, and adoption of energy-efficient products, homes, buildings, services, and strategies. These efforts are essential to fighting the climate crisis and protecting public health.

Winners are selected from a network of thousands of ENERGY STAR partners. For a complete list of 2022 winners and more information about ENERGY STAR’s awards program, visit energystar.gov/awardwinners.

Learn more about the Principal commitment to responsible property investing.