Sentinel believes that sustainability factors can have an impact on investment performance and must be considered when evaluating real estate investment opportunities and managing real estate assets.
Sentinel's Sustainability Policies are designed to:
- ensure sustainability considerations are incorporated into our decision-making processes;
- provide our employees with guidelines for implementing sustainability initiatives at our investment properties;
- define Sentinel's position on sustainability for the benefit of clients, tenants, broader stakeholders and third parties with whom we work; and
- advance our stewardship by participating in industry organizations and actively engaging investors, tenants and Sentinel personnel to advance meaningful initiatives on our sustainability agenda.
The policies apply to all Sentinel entities, employees and affiliates.
We are committed to staying agile, building on our sustainability performance and managing risks effectively. Our focus remains on sustainable growth and high-value investment, ensuring that our portfolio delivers both strong returns and long-term resilience.
Collaboration is key, and through our Sustainability Committee, we engage and drive cooperation across all departments at Sentinel. This strategy not only informs our goal setting and investor reporting, but also enables us to proactively identify areas for continued growth and improvement.
In 2024, we broadened our sustainability programs by increasing our energy, water and waste data collection efforts, implementing tangible sustainable capital improvements, enhancing renewable energy sourcing and increasing building certifications across the portfolio. In Australia, we secured Development Application approvals for two additional sites, in an effort to expand our existing carbon neutral build to rent portfolio.
The work that has been undertaken at both the corporate level and at the property level has allowed us to present ourselves favorably in the leading industry benchmark, the Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB). Now in its 14th year reporting to GRESB, our flagship fund, Sentinel Real Estate Fund (SREF), received a benchmark score of 4 stars and increased its score from 88 to 89. We also increased the number of Institute of Real Estate Management's (IREM) Certified Sustainable Properties to 49, across our entire portfolio.