Principal Real Estate Investors announces it has joined the Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB) and the Department of Energy’s Better Buildings Alliance.

“Our clients expect a holistic approach to environmental, social and governance issues,” said Jennifer McConkey, director of operations and sustainability at Principal Real Estate Investors. “The Better Buildings Alliance allows us to leverage a network of technical and industry experts to implement sustainability initiatives, and GRESB gives us greater insight and feedback on how our work in this area can enhance investment value.”

GRESB is an industry-driven effort to collect sustainability information from real estate portfolios and measure performance against peers. It is committed to providing institutional investors a useful benchmark to assess the sustainability performance of their investment portfolio and engage investments to improve performance. By participating in the annual GRESB survey, Principal Real Estate Investors receives an assessment of several performance indicators on its managed real estate funds, including energy, water, greenhouse gas emissions and waste, as compared to its peer group.

The Better Buildings Alliance is the Department of Energy’s (DOE) effort to promote energy efficiency in commercial buildings through collaboration between building owners and operators and the DOE’s network of technical and subject matter experts. Members of the Better Buildings Alliance commit to addressing energy performance in their buildings by setting energy savings goals, developing innovative resources and solutions, and adopting advanced, cost-effective technologies and market practices.

“We are proud to have Principal Real Estate Investors as a new member of the Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark,” said Nils Kok, executive director at GRESB. “We feel that this continued partnership will further advance Principal Real Estate Investors’ important work in sustainability and responsible investing in the North American real estate market.”

Principal Real Estate Investors has a long-standing commitment to corporate stewardship and an established track record in responsible property investing. Principal Real Estate Investors became an ENERGY STAR partner and launched the Principal Green Property Fund I in 2009. In 2010, Principal Global Investors furthered their commitment to sustainability by becoming a signatory to the United Nations Principles of Responsible Investment (UN PRI). In 2013 Principal Real Estate Investors launched its Pillars of Responsible Property Investing initiative, which provides a unique overarching environment-social-and-governance framework that meets the evolving needs of today’s sophisticated investors.

About Principal Real Estate Investors
Principal Real Estate Investors manages or subadvises $50.5 billion in commercial real estate assets1. The firm’s real estate capabilities include both public and private equity and debt investment alternatives. Principal Real Estate Investors is the dedicated real estate group of Principal Global Investors, a diversified asset management organization and a member of the Principal Financial Group®.

About Principal Global Investors
Principal Global Investors is a diversified asset management organization and a member of the Principal Financial Group®, with expertise in equities, fixed income and real estate investments, as well as specialized overlay and advisory services. Principal Global Investors manages $317.6 billion in assets2 primarily for retirement plans and other institutional clients3.

1 As of March 31, 2014.
2 As of March 31, 2014.
3 Principal Global Investors is the asset management arm of the Principal Financial Group® (The Principal®) and includes the asset management operations of the following subsidiaries of The Principal: Principal Global Investors, LLC; Principal Real Estate Investors, LLC; Principal Enterprise Capital, LLC; Liongate Capital Management LLP; Spectrum Asset Management, Inc.; Post Advisory Group, LLC; Columbus Circle Investors; Edge Asset Management, Inc.; Morley Financial Services Inc.; Finisterre Capital, LLP; Origin Asset Management, LLP; Principal Global Investors (Europe) Limited; Principal Global Investors (Singapore) Ltd.; Principal Global Investors (Australia) Ltd.; Principal Global Investors (Japan) Ltd.; Principal Global Investors (Hong Kong) Ltd.; CIMB-Principal Islamic Asset Management Sdn. Bhd.; and the majority owned affiliates of Principal International, Inc. Assets under management includes assets managed by investment professionals of Principal Global Investors under dual employee arrangements with other subsidiaries of The Principal and assets managed in accordance with investment advice provided by Principal Global Investors through the delivery of a model.

All assets under management figures shown in this document are gross figures, before fees, transaction costs and other expenses and may include leverage, unless otherwise noted.