With 229 certified green buildings, Ventas is on its way to achieving net-zero operational greenhouse gas emissions by 2040 and 100% renewable electricity by 2035. That’s according to the Chicago-based real estate investment trust’s fifth annual corporate sustainability report, released Tuesday.
Ventas noted that among its environmental, social and governance achievements this year, the REIT has earned its second consecutive Energy Star Partner of the Year Award for Energy Management in 2022 and said it is the leading owner/operator of Energy Star-certified senior housing and medical office buildings.
Additionally, according to the report, the REIT this year established a diversity, equity and inclusion committee that “brings our diversity ambitions to life, developing and advancing measurable goals where Ventas can have the most impact.”
Accomplishments, Ventas said, include instructor-led unconscious bias diversity training for interviewers and an enhanced applicant-tracking system to provide candidate diversity metrics for each open position. Ventas also has strengthened its relations with historically black colleges and universities in an effort to draw a diverse pool of candidates to potential careers in real estate.
The firm also has committed to increasing the representation of women in senior leadership. Women make up 36% of the Ventas board of directors; the board is 45% diverse by gender or ethnicity, according to the REIT.
With regard to employee engagement, Ventas increased opportunities for its employees to provide feedback, through newly launched, single-topic surveys in addition to its annual employee engagement survey. Those survey data provide actionable, real-time feedback and helped inform the company’s strategy for a safe and healthy workplace return, according to Ventas.
Ventas’s ESG leadership has earned global recognition and numerous awards:
- CDP “A List” – reserved for the top 2% of the global companies scored – recognizing Ventas’ efforts in climate change.
- Third consecutive year on the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index, representing the top 10% of global companies, based on long-term economic, environmental and social criteria.
- Third consecutive year on the Bloomberg Gender Equality Index.
- Silver Award Winner in Nareit’s 2021 Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Awards.
- One of Newsweek’s America’s Most Responsible Companies for the second consecutive year.
- Six-time winner of Nareit’s Leader in the Light Award, recognizing companies that demonstrate superior sustainability practices.
- Women Corporate Directors Visionary Award for Strategic Leadership awarded to Ventas Chairman and CEO Debra A. Cafaro.
“Building on our long history of industry-leading ESG achievements, we continue to accelerate our activities and commitments and to set ambitious goals to drive meaningful change,” Cafaro wrote in the report.
