Empire State Realty Trust Named as a 2022 Platinum Green Lease Leader by the Department of Energy's Better Buildings Alliance and the Institute for Market Transformation

ESRT is one of a select few to receive the Platinum recognition, the highest distinction and a new award tier implemented in 2022

NEW YORK, June 16, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Empire State Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE: ESRT) announced that it was selected as a 2022 Platinum Green Lease Leader by the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Better Buildings Alliance and the Institute for Market Transformation (IMT). With this award, ESRT is recognized for its integration of high-performance leasing and sustainability practices into business operations which deliver energy efficiency, cost savings, air quality, and sustainability for our tenants. ESRT is one of only nine awardees to achieve the Platinum distinction.

"ESRT's long standing commitment to these initiatives across our portfolio has been a key factor for the attraction of high credit quality tenants with aligned goals," said ESRT's Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Christina Chiu. "As we achieve important ESG targets, we also achieve ROI and savings benefits from these practices which benefit ESRT, our valued tenants, and our investors for whom this is competitive advantage."

ESRT's work has proven that building efficiency measures – along with planned renewable changes in power supply to the grid – will achieve city-wide and global long-term targets of 80% reduction of GHG by 2050. ESRT plans to achieve this goal of 80% operational emissions reduction at the Empire State Building by 2030 and portfolio-wide by 2035.

"Tenants automatically achieve long-term goals for carbon neutrality, Local Law 97 compliance, and healthy buildings at an affordable price point when they choose an ESRT building," said Dana Robbins Schneider, SVP director of energy, sustainability, and ESG. "More than 50% of energy usage in commercial buildings comes from tenant spaces, so partnership with our tenants on energy-efficient designs and operational practices is paramount to achieve key goals for waste diversion, emissions, energy, and water reduction."

Green Lease Leaders sets national standards for what constitutes a green lease and recognizes landlords and tenants who modernize their leases to spur collaborative action on energy efficiency, cost savings, air quality, and sustainability in buildings. To achieve this recognition, ESRT qualified for credits in energy efficiency and sustainability best practices such as utility data tracking and sharing, cost recovery for capital improvements, and sustainability training.

ESRT regularly takes steps to reduce the environmental impact of our portfolio of more than 10 million rentable square feet of commercial and retail space. We make investments and adjust our practices to achieve quantifiable improvement in energy efficiency, carbon emissions reduction, water efficiency, waste diversion, healthy buildings, and the wellness of our tenants and employees. ESRT recently reported its major accomplishments, transparent metrics, and forward-looking goals for energy, sustainability, and DE&I in its annual Sustainability Report.

More information about Green Lease Leaders can be found online. More information about ESRT's sustainability leadership can be found online.

Empire State Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE: ESRT) is a NYC-focused REIT that owns and manages a well-positioned property portfolio of office, retail and multifamily assets in Manhattan and the greater New York metropolitan area. Owner of the Empire State Building, the World's Most Famous Building, ESRT also owns and operates its iconic, newly reimagined Observatory Experience. The company is a leader in healthy buildings, energy efficiency, and indoor environmental quality, and has the lowest greenhouse gas emissions per square foot of any publicly traded REIT portfolio in New York City. As of March 31, 2022, ESRT's portfolio is comprised of approximately 9.4 million rentable square feet of office space, 700,000 rentable square feet of retail space and 625 units across two multifamily properties. More information about Empire State Realty Trust can be found at esrtreit.com and by following ESRT on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn.   

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Federal securities laws. You can identify these statements by our use of words such as "assumes," "believes," "estimates," "expects," "intends," "plans," "projects" or the negative of these words or similar words or expressions that do not relate to historical matters. You should exercise caution in interpreting and relying on forward-looking statements, because they involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which are, in some cases, beyond ESRT's control and could materially affect actual results, performance or achievements. Such factors and risks include, without limitation, (i) the current public health crisis and economic disruption from the COVID-19 pandemic, (ii) a failure of conditions or performance regarding any event or transaction described above, (iii) environmental uncertainties and risks related to climate change, adverse weather conditions, rising sea levels and natural disasters; and (iv) accuracy of our methodologies and estimates regarding ESG metrics and goals, (v) tenant willingness and ability to collaborate in reporting ESG metrics and meeting ESG goals, (vi) impact of governmental regulation on our ESG efforts, (viii) and other risks and uncertainties described from time to time in ESRT's and ESROP's filings with the SEC, including those set forth in each of ESRT's and ESROP's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021 under the heading "Risk Factors." Except as may be required by law, ESRT and ESROP do not undertake a duty to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

SOURCE Empire State Realty Trust, Inc.