Principal® earns ENERGY STAR® Partner of the Year Sustained Excellence Award

DES MOINES, Iowa--(BUSINESS WIRE)--For the fourth consecutive year, Principal Financial Group^® has been named an ENERGY STAR^® Partner of the Year Sustained Excellence award winner via its Principal Real Estate Investors business. This recognition, the highest honor among ENERGY STAR awards, is reserved for ENERGY STAR partners that demonstrate outstanding leadership and superior contributions year-over-year.

A top 10 global real estate manager¹, Principal Real Estate Investors has been an ENERGY STAR partner since 2009 and continues to integrate energy efficiency into its Pillars of Responsible Property Investing (PRPI) initiative. PRPI is an overarching Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) framework Principal Real Estate Investors has used since 2013 that strives to deliver positive financial results and ESG outcomes through asset management and fiduciary governance.

“The Sustained Excellence award is a cherished honor. It validates our commitment and leadership to create high-performing, energy-efficient buildings using a proven framework – our Pillars of Responsible Property Investing – that supports positive climate change,” said Jennifer McConkey, senior director of operations and sustainability for Principal Real Estate Investors.

Since 2008, Principal Real Estate Investors has achieved 15.2% energy savings, avoided more than $51 million in cumulative energy costs, and prevented more than 130.4 thousand metric tons of cumulative carbon dioxide emissions². In 2020 alone, Principal Real Estate Investors achieved:

• ENERGY STAR certification at 41 office and multifamily properties.
• An average ENERGY STAR score of 79 for certified properties, meaning these properties perform within the top 21% of peers across the country.
• ENERGY STAR certification in 62% of office properties.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency presents the Sustained Excellence Award to ENERGY STAR partners that have already received partner of the year recognition for a minimum of two consecutive years and have gone above and beyond the criteria needed to qualify for recognition.

For a complete list of 2021 winners and more information about ENERGY STAR’s awards program, visit energystar.gov/awardwinners.

About Principal^®

Principal^® helps people and companies around the world build, protect, and advance their financial well-being through retirement, insurance, and asset management solutions that fit their lives. Our employees are passionate about helping clients of all income and portfolio sizes achieve their goals – offering innovative ideas, investment expertise, and real-life solutions to make financial progress possible. To find out more, visit us at principal.com.

About Principal Real Estate Investors

Principal Real Estate Investors manages or sub-advises $88.1 billion in commercial real estate assets (as of December 31, 2020). The firm's real estate capabilities include both public and private equity and debt investment alternatives. Principal Real Estate Investors is the dedicated real estate group of Principal Global Investors, a diversified asset management organization and a member of the Principal Financial Group^®.

About ENERGY STAR

ENERGY STAR^® is the government-backed symbol for energy efficiency, providing simple, credible, and unbiased information that consumers and businesses rely on to make well-informed decisions. Thousands of industrial, commercial, utility, state, and local organizations—including more than 40 percent of the Fortune 500®—rely on their partnership with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to deliver cost-saving energy efficiency solutions. Since 1992, ENERGY STAR and its partners helped American families and businesses avoid more than $450 billion in energy costs and achieve 4 billion metric tons of greenhouse gas reductions. More background information about ENERGY STAR can be found at energystar.gov/about and energystar.gov/numbers.

Principal, Principal and symbol design and Principal Financial Group are trademarks and service marks of Principal Financial Services, Inc., a member of the Principal Financial Group.

¹ Managers ranked by total worldwide assets (net of leverage), as of June 30, 2020. “Largest Real Estate Managers,” Pensions & Investments (October 2020)
² The information provided is based on data input by individual property teams as of October 2020 into ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager, with select review and validation.