Retail-focused property owner Crombie REIT (CRR-UN-T) more than doubled its goal for certifying green space, and validated its 2050 net-zero pathway via a global climate standards setter in 2023.

The achievements outlined in its latest ESG report show a 22 per cent cut in operational emissions from 2019 to 2023, putting Crombie on track to meet its target of a 50 per cent cut by 2030, executive vice-president of leasing and operations Arie Bitton told Sustainable Biz Canada in an interview.

It also notched a 32 per cent decrease in all scopes of emissions, toward a goal of a 90 per cent cut by 2050 against a 2019 baseline.

“We’re confident that we can meet our near-term 2030 and our 2050 net-zero goals . . . because we’ve done the work to inventory our emissions and we feel we’re in a good spot, where it starts with the data and we know where we’re at,” he said.

Crombie’s portfolio is over 19 million square feet under management across over 300 properties. The New Glasgow, N.S.-headquartered real estate investment trust primarily holds retail properties, with some distribution centres and multifamily properties. Empire Company Ltd., the parent company of Sobeys, owns over 40 per cent of Crombie REIT.

Greening its real estate

In 2023, Crombie’s Scope 1 and 2 emissions were reported as 18,164 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e). compared to 23,404 tCO2e in 2019. The operational emissions were reduced by taking on “low-hanging fruit” such as modifying HVAC equipment, LED retrofits and less capital-intensive retrofits, Bitton said.

Scope 3 emissions fell from 334,860 tCO2e in 2019 to 218,150 tCO2e in 2023. Crombie is working with its tenants to decarbonize their operations by supporting LED retrofits and electrifying HVAC systems.

The REIT meets with its top-20 tenants annually and surveys their climate aspirations, so Crombie can intersect everyone on climate planning, Bitton continued. Crombie also explores whether it can accelerate maintenance or operational expenditures to help tenants decarbonize faster.

One retrofit highlighted by Crombie is the Aberdeen Sobeys in New Glasgow, where carbon-emitting infrastructure such as the refrigeration equipment was upgraded.

“That’s very important for us as well given the intensity of the Nova Scotia grid, they’re still coal-fired there,” Bitton said. “What we can do there really goes a lot further than it would in a province that has a lower carbon intensity.”

Other examples of sustainable buildings in its portfolio are:

• The Marlstone, a residential development of 291 rental units in downtown Halifax that will be built to LEED Gold standard and be net-zero ready; and
• Scotia Square, which earned BOMA BEST Platinum Certification in 2023.

The Marlstone helps Crombie achieve its goals of having on-site renewable and/or low-carbon energy systems in the design of major new developments, and certifying all major development projects through programs such as LEED.

On the building certification side, Crombie certified 2.4 million square feet in 2023, surpassing its goal of certifying one million square feet annually. As of 2023, 6.8 million square feet of gross floor area was certified, more than double from 2020.

Its efforts resulted in Crombie being awarded Green Lease Gold by Green Lease Leaders in April 2023.

Crombie is still working on achieving its goal of diverting 50 per cent of its tenant and common-area waste by 2025. As of 2023, the company diverted 22 per cent of its portfolio waste from landfills through composting and recycling.

The REIT is focusing on its enclosed and office locations, and is educating tenants and customers on waste divergence, it says. Crombie is also monitoring the frequency of hauling and tonnage across its portfolio to gain more data on its waste practices.  

A clearer path to net-zero

Crombie’s 2050 net-zero plan was validated by the Science Based Targets initiative, approving it is aligned with the Paris Agreement goal to hold global warming to 1.5 C. A third-party consultant went through Crombie’s value chain to ensure the data it is uploading is accurate, Bitton explained.

“It shows the transparency and accountability that we have towards achieving our net-zero target.”

Data is crucial to ESG success, he said, and Crombie is set to have a window into its supply-chain emissions. Most of its top-20 tenants have their own ESG strategies, so there is a shared understanding of its importance and less need to educate on sustainability, Bitton said.

Empire is the largest consumer of utilities in its portfolio, an advantage because energy and emissions data is available from the company.

“Being able to get that data from our largest consumer really positions us favourably versus perhaps some others that don’t have that relationship,” Bitton explained.

Renewing its materiality assessment and enhancing ESG-related disclosures for adoption of Canadian Sustainability Standards Board changes are Crombie's sustainability priorities in 2024.

The company has a new team and leadership since the last materiality assessment in 2021, so a renewal of the assessment will help surface any prevailing sustainability trends and focuses for Crombie.

The update is aimed at being “transparent at how we telegraph where we’re going, so that we can be held to account,” Bitton said.