2025 Highwoods Corporate Resiliency Report | ESG, Sustainability & Real Estate Performance - Flipbook - Page 29
BON
(Scope 1) and the generation of electricity and district
heating and cooling off-site by local utilities (Scope 2).
We utilize the ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager online
platform to monitor GHGs from our on-going operations
and to track progress towards meeting our goals. While
our properties are not currently in areas with local building
performance mandates, we continue to monitor the
evolving regulatory landscape and how our operations
may be impacted in the future.
the utility savings to expand adoption across our portfolio.
In 2025, we continued to invest in energy efficiency
projects across our portfolio including LED lighting
retrofits, building management system (BMS) upgrades
and heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC)
system upgrades. Through our longstanding LiveMeter
program, we continue to monitor real-time energy interval
data across managed assets to uncover new energy
efficiency and operational improvement opportunities.
To deploy innovative energy efficient technologies, we
pilot specific solutions, prove the concept, and reinvest
Our commitment to operational excellence through energy
efficiency was recently recognized by the Department of
Energy’s (DOE) Better Buildings Challenge, highlighting
our portfolio-wide energy intensity reductions. This
achievement was primarily driven by the early returns
of our four-year, $17 million building modernization
initiatives that included investment in energy efficiency
projects across our portfolio coupled with real-time energy
management insights provided by our LiveMeter program.
In 2025, we achieved ENERGY STAR certifications for
almost two-thirds of our portfolio square footage, which
was accomplished in part through a concerted effort in
recent years to expand energy data coverage for
customers with triple-net leases. Additionally, we have
achieved LEED certification for all new, wholly-owned
development projects since 2013 to ensure highperforming, energy efficient systems are in place and
commissioned pre-occupancy.
CHILLER | PARK WEST
air for water cooling to further improve cooling efficiency.
A testament to the system’s efficiency, these upgrades
qualified for the maximum Tennessee Valley Authority
(TVA) rebate reimbursement.
Demonstrating our ongoing commitment to
decarbonization, we expanded our portfolio-wide energy
and GHG emissions reduction goals in 2025 to target
35% energy intensity and 50% GHG emissions intensity
reductions by 2030 from a 2016 baseline. As part of
expanding our portfolio-wide energy and GHG goals, we
re-established our 2016 baseline to include properties
owned in 2016 that were still owned in 2025.
We continuously assess the financial impact of achieving
carbon neutrality across our portfolio through evaluating
green power supply options in the markets where we
operate and nationally. Additionally, we aligned with the
IPCC best practices for reducing Scope 1 and 2 emissions to
advance our transition to a lower-carbon future.
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