Four Blackstone portfolio companies have signed on to pursue environmental sustainability programs. Equity Office Properties, LXR Luxury Resorts and Hotels, Performance Food Group, and Pinnacle Foods have selected test sites at which to roll-out a host of operational improvements and technology upgrades to reduce energy, water and waste-related costs.
The goal is to roll-out the most effective initiatives from the test sites across each company’s portfolio of facilities and locations, with annual cost savings estimated to exceed 10% of total energy costs. Today’s announcement is part of an ongoing effort by Blackstone to focus on sustainability across the portfolio of companies it manages on behalf of its investors, which include 36 million pensioners globally.
“By partnering with companies in our portfolio with the greatest energy spend to improve environmental performance while lowering costs, we can make a substantial impact,” says Don Anderson, Blackstone’s Chief Sustainability Officer. “Blackstone’s large-scale platform allows companies in our portfolio to leverage technology and services purchases, and as importantly share knowledge across industries and geographies on how best to tackle sustainability initiatives.”
ICF International and JDM Associates, leading providers of sustainability solutions, have been engaged to help apply best practices at each test site. The four companies rolling out test sites currently use Summit Energy for energy procurement and associated web-based performance tracking, which allows carbon impact and other sustainability achievements to be documented.
Other Blackstone portfolio companies are expected to join this initiative in the coming year.
