Jill Ziegler, director of sustainability and corporate responsibility at Forest City Realty Trust, Inc., (NYSE: FCEA and FCEB), joined REIT.com for a video interview at NAREIT’s 2017 Leader in the Light Working Forum at the Hilton Austin in Austin, Texas.
Ziegler commented on the additional challenges involved when attempting to implement sustainability initiatives across multiple property types.
While acknowledging that “it’s difficult to get economies of scale,” Ziegler noted that Forest City’s focus on urban mixed-use development affords the company “a lot of opportunity to interact with the cities where we are doing business.”
Meanwhile, Ziegler expressed the importance of creating a universal sustainability reporting standard. She noted that during 2017, Forest City will be involved with three separate sustainability reports. However, Ziegler said the number of new reports seems to be stabilizing at this point.
Looking ahead, Ziegler said Forest City’s sustainability focus will expand beyond operational metrics to include more of a social focus, including the impact of its buildings on their surrounding community.