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Sustainable Investing

As a fiduciary, we approach sustainable investing from both a risk mitigation and a value creation perspective to help enhance the long-term financial and operational resiliency of the asset.

Highlights

Resource Conservation1

$0M

in utility savings from 2019 to 20242

0%

reduction in energy intensity in 2024 vs. 20193

Thriving Communities

$0

donated to charities4

0

community events held at BGO properties5

Industry Engagement

0%

of real estate equity AUM reported to GRESB6

Environmental

Climate resiliency

BGO views climate resilience as having the adaptive capacity to manage risks posed by climate change in addition to seizing the opportunities it presents. As a real estate investment manager, BGO evaluates physical and transition risks into its evaluation of new developments, acquisitions and standing assets.

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Driving environmental performance improvements

Improving operational efficiency is integral to lowering operating costs and enhancing long-term value. We rely on conscientious stakeholder engagement and sound data management practices to help reduce energy use and water consumption and improve waste diversion rates.

bg-sustainability-environmental-performance

Social

Culture, Talent and Belonging at BGO

Our vision is to create an environment in which all employees feel valued, included and empowered to do their best work is critical to our success. We recognize that each employee’s unique experiences, perspectives, and viewpoints strengthen our ability to create and deliver the best value to our clients, partners and stakeholders/investors. BGO's talent strategy addresses three pillars that serve as the foundation for organizational inclusion:

  • ATTRACT: Attracting top talent to BGO
  • RETAIN: Recognizing and retaining talent
  • CULTIVATE: Talent development and advancement

Learn about how we our attracting diverse talent with our Built to Lead program

Community Engagement

Our focus on social impact is aligned with our holistic approach to real estate investment. We work together with investors, tenants and other stakeholders to create thriving communities. Through our philanthropic mission, BGO Inspired, we are using our influence to make a difference. Connected at the intersection of the many communities we belong to, and identify with, our employees have united to direct the resources of BGO’s global philanthropy program to help create positive impact in our communities. Learn more about BGO Inspired here.

Our 2024 impact

Total BGO Donations in 2024: $818,555 (USD)

Number of Charities Supported Globally: 104

Industry Engagement

Our involvement with global industry associations allows us to share sustainable investing best practices, successes, and challenges based on our deep experience. We demonstrate our commitment to industry leadership through our participation in research that may inform policymakers, and establish industry benchmarks alongside our peers who are likewise committed to advancing the environmental and social performance of commercial real estate through sustainable investing. Examples of industry engagement include the following:

  • Signatory to the PRI since 2008
  • Participant in GRESB for since 2009
  • ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year since 2009 and recognized with Sustained Excellence since 2011 for leadership in energy management
  • Member of ULI Greenprint Center for Building Performance since 2022
  • Fitwel Champion since 2017 and member of the Fitwel Leadership Advisory Board (LAB) since 2023
  • Member of the Canadian, U.S. and U.K. Green Building Councils
  • Member of the Real Property Association of Canada (REALPAC)'s ESG Committee
  • Member of the PRI Real Estate Advisory Committee (REAC) since 2022

Tenant Engagement

We strive to establish long-term relationships with our tenants, which supports our objective to provide a high level of customer service while creating healthy environments for both tenants and building occupants. We regularly communicate with our tenants to help them understand the value of sustainable building attributes and collaborate with this group to achieve our goals for sustainable property operations.

Governance

At BGO, we foster a culture of respect, integrity, fairness and safety. Our Code of Business Conduct (Code) guides us to implement strong governance practices across our business.

Our commitment to sustainable investing is established in our corporate vision and values, and incorporated into our strategic plan, which is reviewed, approved and monitored annually by the Board and senior leadership. Learn more about our Governance structure in our Sustainable Investing report.

Insights and stories

Powering the future – delivering scalable, renewable energy-driven data centers

Multiple Locations

Global demand for data centers has risen sharply in recent years, driven by rapid digitization of data, growing data sovereignty requirements (processing data within the country of origin, rather than offshore), and the exponential growth of AI. In Europe alone, demand for data center capacity is expected to increase 500% by 2035.13 This expansion will significantly impact power consumption, with Europe’s data center energy use projected to triple to over 150 TWh by 2030 equivalent to 4.5% total European power demand.14 BGO’s portfolio company investment, Bulk Infrastructure, is strategically positioned to capture this secular growth. Based in the Nordics, Bulk Infrastructure is a vertically integrated developer, owner and operator of high-performance data centers, dark fiber networks and industrial real estate. The company leverages Norway’s inherent advantages: a cold climate, excess power generation, low-cost energy, and a stable political environment.

Bulk Infrastructure is currently delivering three cutting-edge data center assets that benefit from 400 MW of locally sourced renewable hydropower energy, with scalable capacity to reach 1 GW.

N01 Data Center Campus - Bulk Infrastructure

Leveraging solar power in the Sunshine State

Florida, United States | Multifamily

With its multi-family partner, BGO installed a 515-kilowatt solar energy system at a 454-unit luxury apartment community in downtown Doral, Florida.  At full operational capacity, the system is expected to produce enough electricity to provide 50% of the energy needs of the property’s common areas, including its extensive amenities. The project is projected to save over $65,000 in utility costs within the first year of operation. The project team was able to reduce the total cost of this project through accessing federal investment tax credit incentives. 

Leveraging solar power in the sunshine state - web

Financing an energy efficient logistics facility in Finland

Helsinki, Finland | Logistics

In 2024, we supported a leading Nordic real estate institutional investor who required financing for the development of a high-quality logistics property in Helsinki. To understand the sustainability profile of the investment relative to the rest of the fund, the team used BGO’s ESG due diligence scorecard to determine the key environmental, social and governance risks and opportunities associated with the loan. The scorecard also provided a basis on which to engage with the sponsor on an array of sustainability factors. For this deal, this included matters such as physical climate risks, low carbon ambitions, health and wellbeing features and environmental policies and reporting.

Completed in October 2024, the asset has achieved a BREEAM Excellent rating and an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) of A. Our in-house asset management team tracks performance against the borrower’s business plan to ensure the successful delivery of the asset’s sustainability features.

Financing an energy efficient logistics facility in Finland_Image - web

Aligning with Vancouver’s GHG intensity limits by 2026

Vancouver, Canada | Office

In 2024, our asset and portfolio management teams completed a decarbonization study at one of our Class A office buildings in Vancouver to identify opportunities to reduce energy consumption and GHG emissions.

The proposed measures and timelines align the property with the City of Vancouver’s Greenhouse Gas Intensity Limits By-Law15, which sets carbon emission limits for large commercial buildings16 and requires full decarbonization by 2040.

The study outlined ways to ensure that required life cycle capital replacements are completed with low-carbon or zero carbon alternatives. It also highlighted the need for continuous engagement with tenants to reduce their own energy consumption.

By implementing the study’s proposed measures, the property’s intensity-based Green House Gas Emissions are projected to decline by approximately 79% by 2030, from a 2023 baseline.

Aligning with Vancouver’s GHG - web

Enhancing demand response with PropTech

New York City, United States | Office

Since 2020, BGO has piloted multiple innovative data driven property technology solutions at select North American properties that support our goals of improving operational efficiency and generating value. In 2024, BGO piloted a property technology solution at three office assets in New York that delivered a combined ROI of 137% and provided approximately $155,000 in utility cost savings across the three properties17.

Building engineers at each site were able to use an application to monitor and adjust daily building operations and gain insights into ways to reduce energy usage at the properties. The engineers pursued strategies such as optimizing startup and turndown times, avoiding peak hours when utility prices are highest, and reducing unnecessary runtime. Combined, the properties demonstrated a 3% year-over-year reduction in energy consumption despite higher occupancy and heating and cooling demand.

1 Data covers BGO’s Canadian and U.S. Open-Ended Core strategies and select separate accounts. Data from our global debt series, Value-Add and Core Plus strategies and U.S., Asian and European separate accounts has been excluded as part of these metrics.

2 Includes BGO’s Canadian and U.S. Open-Ended Core strategies and select separate accounts. Savings are from landlord-tracked utilities for our North American Core Strategies. Data utilized from 2019 to 2023 was adjusted to reflect 2024 weather, utility rates, occupant density (office only) and sub-metered exceptional loads. 2024 data is actual (non-adjusted).

3 Includes BGO’s Canadian and U.S. Open-Ended Core, Value Add Strategies and select separate accounts.

4 Between January 1, 2024 and December 31, 2024.

5 Between January 1, 2024 and December 31, 2024. Includes our Canadian and U.S. Core, Value Add Strategies and separate accounts. Data taken from BGO’s annual Benchmarking Survey.

6 Includes 29.5 billion AUM across participating North American and UK strategies in 2024.

7 GRESB Rating: GRESB awards are based on GRESB's assessment of seven sustainability aspects, using 50 real estate related indicators. The assessment includes information on property performance indicators, such as energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, water consumption, and waste. Details of the questionnaire and GRESB's assessment and weighting of responses are available at https://gresb.com/gresb-real-estate-assessment/. GRESB B.V. (GRESB) created and tabulated each strategy’s score, which covers activities taking place during each calendar year and is typically released on or around October 1 of the following year after materials strategy are submitted to GRESB. In order to obtain a rating, the strategy must pay a participation assessment fee for submission to GRESB.

8 Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) is a United Nations-supported organization. BGO pays fees to PRI as part of its submission to PRI to assess how it, as a signatory of the Principles for Responsible Investment, has progressed year-over-year and relative to peers. In 2023, BGO submitted to four modules including, Policy Governance and Strategy, Real Estate, Fixed Income – Private Debt and Confidence Building Measures. Investment categories are evaluated with a score out of 100 and given a star rating, where 5 stars represents a >90% score. Submissions to PRI cover a 12-month period. For further information please see www.unpri.org.

9 ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year awards are awarded by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). An Energy Star Partner of the Year Award is the highest level of EPA recognition, reflecting the EPA’s assessment that the partner perform at a superior level of energy management and demonstrates best practices across the organization, proves organization-wide energy savings and participates actively and communicates the benefits of ENERGY STAR. More information is available at www.energystar.gov.

10 The Fitwel Champion program is led by the Center for Active Design, via Fitwel®, the world’s leading certification system committed to healthy buildings for all. Fitwel Champions must register 20 assets upon signing and certifying at least 10 or more projects over the 24-month period. Certifications are issued on a rolling basis and are valid for three years. Properties must re-certify to maintain certification standing. Properties must pay certification fees to pursue Fitwel certifications. More information is available at www.fitwel.org.

11 Launched in 2014 by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Better Buildings Alliance and the Institute for Market Transformation, Green Lease Leaders sets the standard for what constitutes a green lease. The 2023 awardees represent portfolios totaling over 3 billion sq. ft. and comprise a diverse range of buildings from large and small commercial offices to industrial buildings to data centers. More information is available at www.greenleaseleaders.com.

12 The 2023 PREA Real Estate Investment Management ESG Award recognizes PREA members at the forefront of ESG within real estate investing, and provides the industry with examples of best practices in ESG. Our core Canadian strategy won in the open-ended category. There is no fee for the award, but recipients have to be PREA members.

13 Morgan Stanley, 2024.

14 McKinsey & Company, 2024.

15 As part of the City of Vancouver’s Climate Emergency Action Plan, owners and managers of existing large office and retail buildings will be subject to greenhouse gas limits starting in 2026 and Heat Energy Intensity Limits (HEL) for natural gas and district energy use starting in 2040. For more information, please visit https://vancouver.ca/green-vancouver.aspx

16 Commercial buildings with a Gross Floor Area (GFA) equal to or exceeding 9,290 m2.

17 January 1, 2024 to December 31, 2024.