Morguard Corporation Releases 2015 Sustainability Report: Reducing the Environmental Footprint, Improving Health and Safety and Enhancing Tenant Satisfaction

MISSISSAUGA, ON, March 29, 2016 /CNW/ - Morguard Corporation (TSX: MRC) ("Morguard") released its 2015 Sustainability Report, Focusing on Sustainability, demonstrating continuous improvements across environmental, social and governance (ESG) indicators.

Sustainable Morguard, the company's sustainability program established in 2009, has been successful in reducing the environmental footprint of its office and retail real estate portfolio, improving health and safety and enhancing the satisfaction level of tenants. This Report is guided by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) sustainability reporting framework.

2015 HIGHLIGHTS

REDUCING THE ENVIRONMENTAL FOOTPRINT
Morguard's sustainability initiatives resulted in a measureable reduction in energy, water and waste, since the baseline year of 2010.  These results were achieved through the identification and delivery of sustainable projects that were right-sized for each property within the owned and managed Canadian office and enclosed shopping centre portfolio.

Annual Energy Consumption (ekWh)
For the combined Canadian office and retail portfolio, actual electricity and natural gas use decreased by 6.9% in 2015 versus 2014. With weather and occupancy adjustments taken into account, combined use decreased by 13.6% when compared to the 2010 baseline. The reduction was more than 42 million ekWh of energy in 2015 – a significant cost savings and enough energy to power 3,764 homes for a year.

Annual Energy Related Green House Gas Emissions (tC02e)
For the combined Canadian office and retail portfolio, actual energy-related greenhouse gas emissions decreased by 6.5% in 2015 versus 2014. With weather and occupancy adjustments taken into account, emissions decreased by 23.9% compared to the 2010 baseline.  The reduced emissions of 7,996 metric tonnes in 2015 were equivalent to eliminating the annual GHG emissions from over 1,480 passenger vehicles.

Annual Water Consumption (m³)
For the combined Canadian office and retail portfolio, actual water use decreased by 1.8% in 2015 versus 2014. With weather and occupancy adjustments, use decreased by 18.6% compared to the 2010 baseline. The 2015 annual reduction of 32,333 m³ is a sizable water reduction equivalent to 13 Olympic swimming pools.

Waste Performance – Office and Industrial (tonnes)
For the combined Canadian office and retail portfolio, the percentage of waste recycled was 51.5% in 2015 compared to 40.3% in the 2010 baseline.

IMPROVING HEALTH AND SAFETY
With more than 120 million annual visits to the owned and managed commercial portfolio of retail centres, office towers and development projects in Canada, Morguard has taken a leadership position as a company, and in the real estate industry, to invest in, develop and deliver best-in-class occupational health and safety programs.

These investments have allowed Morguard to create effective health and safety teams, provide dedicated training personnel, introduce corporate-wide online training systems and build strong competencies in risk management. For the third year in a row, Morguard was named one of Canada's Safest Employers in the Retail and Services category.

ENHANCING TENANT SATISFACTION
Morguard continually measures the effectiveness of property programs designed to maintain high levels of tenant satisfaction. The company undertakes joint reviews regarding the fulfillment of operational plans and sustainability programs, and undertakes formal tenant surveys to validate tenant satisfaction. 

In 2015, Morguard conducted an Office Tenant Satisfaction Survey. Overall, Morguard-managed properties scored notably high service levels – outperforming the industry benchmark of Altus InSite (a commercial real estate research firm) of market norms in every key area.  Specific to sustainability, Morguard received high scores in the following categories:

Agree that Morguard is an Environmentally Responsible Company                                 92%

Agree that their Morguard-Managed Building is Environmentally Responsible                 89%

"In order to achieve these significant results, we partner with key stakeholders who have a common vision of the benefits of sustainability," said K. Rai Sahi, Chairman and CEO, Morguard Corporation.  "We work with our clients to identify sustainable opportunities in property business plans, we work with our employees to provide training on best practices and we work with our tenants to engage on sustainability initiatives. Together, we are making a difference."

To download a copy of the Morguard's 2015 Sustainability Report, visit www.morguard.com.

About Morguard Corporation
Morguard Corporation (TSX: MRC) is a major North American real estate and property management company.  It has extensive retail, office, industrial, multi–suite residential, and hotel holdings owned directly, or through its investment in Morguard REIT (TSX: MRT.UN) and Morguard North American Residential REIT (TSX: MRG.UN). Morguard also provides real estate management services to institutional and other investors. Morguard's combined real estate portfolio is valued at $15.6 billion.

SOURCE Morguard Corporation