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Duke Realty sets carbon neutrality goals

(IIB Photo/Alex Brown)

INDIANAPOLIS (Inside INdiana Business) — Indianapolis-based Duke Realty Corp. (NYSE: DRE) says it is aiming to achieve carbon neutrality for its operations by 2025. The Real Estate Investment Trust says it also plans to achieve carbon neutrality in alignment with the Paris Climate Accords by 2040. 

Duke says it will work to meet its goals by reducing carbon emissions, replacing energy sources with renewable energy and offsetting its energy consumption. The company plans to achieve its goals through a number of actions, including making energy-efficient improvements to its existing facilities, continuing do develop facilities to LEED-certification standards, investing in renewable energy projects, and implementing more efficient means of transportation.

“At Duke Realty, we have been leaders in implementing sustainable building practices and now we are taking an even more active role to address climate change,” Megan Basore, vice president of corporate responsibility for Duke, said in a news release. “We can now build on our prior efforts to address our environmental impact by setting more aggressive goals toward achieving net zero carbon emissions and helping to lead the industrial real estate industry to a more sustainable future.”

The company says it has segmented its impact on greenhouse gas emissions into three scopes:

  • Scope 1: Direct emissions from sources owned or controlled by the company
  • Scope 2: Indirect emissions produced offsite as a result of purchased energy such as electricity and heat
  • Scope 3: Emissions that occur across the company’s value chain, including suppliers, customers and end users

Duke says it will implement strategies to directly impact the first two scopes, while working closely with tenants and vendors to align strategies to impact scope 3 emissions.