Mark Delisi is the Vice President of Corporate Responsibility at AvalonBay Communities. In this position, he leads all Corporate Responsibility initiatives, including strategic philanthropy, environmental sustainability, responsible supply chain, and public reporting.

Why does AvalonBay care about sustainability?

“In short, because our stakeholders care about it. Those stakeholders include our associates, our residents (clients) and the communities in which we do business. In addition, our investors are looking to invest in companies that understand the risks and opportunities associated with building a business for the long-term. This means we have to think about all of our stakeholders — from the communities in which we do business to our impact on the environment. We have 140,000+ residents who call us home, and they do not live in a vacuum. Therefore sustainability, or as we term it, Corporate Responsibility, is essential to our success in the long-term.”

How do you think about Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)?

“I like to use the term ESG — Environment, Social and Governance. Corporate Social Responsibility is about building a company that systematically includes all three of these areas in the way we conduct our business and our strategy for long-term success. We care about our impacts on the environment, and with over 280 apartment buildings, we know that we play an important role in reducing emissions and contributing to a carbon-free future. That’s why we set approved Science-Based Targets and will focus on emissions reductions that align with the Paris Climate Accord over the next 10 years. Strong corporate governance is part of our DNA, and we continue to focus on a culture that encourages high integrity and ethics in all that we do. And finally, as noted, our communities (our apartment homes) do not sit isolated from their surroundings. They are part of a larger community, and so our Building Strong Communities social investment program is designed to engage those communities and partner with non-profits focused on disaster recovery/preparedness, affordable housing and support for at-risk populations. We think about CSR the same way we think about our business — it’s a core component of it!”

How does AvalonBay approach energy efficiency?

“We form an annual strategic plan designed to achieve our goals around energy efficiency. That is now tied to our emissions reduction goals, and I will talk more about that in question #7. Since 2015, for example, we have systemically retrofitted almost 200 of our communities with LED lighting. This is saving us over $4M a year in operating expenses and significantly reducing our emissions and energy use intensities.”

How does AvalonBay approach water conservation?

“Similar to energy, we form an annual strategic plan to achieve our ambitious 2020 goal of reducing our water use intensity by 15%. We are on track to achieve that goal and have invested in a variety of technologies, including weather-based irrigation systems that were installed at over 20 communities.”

How does AvalonBay approach green design and construction?

“Green design and construction are a core component of our Construction Standards — in fact we have a set of what we call “Green Construction Standards” that ensure energy, water and waste efficiency is built into every new and redeveloped community. These standards also address components of what it means to be a ‘healthy’ building.”

How does AvalonBay approach waste management?

“We set a 2023 goal to reduce our landfill-bound communities waste 20%. This guiding goal is supported by annual plans to improve diversion and educate our residents on things like recycling contamination. Waste is a real challenge these days with the fundamental shift in how recycling is managed, but we are making strides toward our goal.”

How do you think about emissions reduction goals?

“Our approved Science-Based Targets (SBTs) form the main component of how we think about emissions reductions. The markets in which we do business (California, Seattle, New York, Boston, Washington, DC) are all setting ambitious carbon reduction goals. We want to play our part in these goals, and the SBT’s will set our direction in doing so.”

What are the challenges associated with sustainability, and how do you overcome those challenges?

“One long-standing challenge is understanding how to make the right investments today that may have longer payback periods and take longer to accrue to the organization. Sustainability is about investing for the long-term, and that can run counter to short-term thinking. We overcome that by doing just that: investing for the long-term. Our business, which involves building and operating large multi-family communities over decades is fundamentally suited well to sustainability time-horizons.”

What trends are you seeing in your industry related to sustainability?

“The biggest trends relate to what our markets are doing around decarbonization (and therefore building electrification) and emissions reductions (and therefore the move to renewable sources of electricity).”

What is on the horizon for AvalonBay related to sustainable initiatives?

“With our approved Science-Based Targets we are moving forward on tackling Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions reductions, continuing our strategy around onsite renewable energy generation, and looking at virtual power purchase agreements. We are also establishing resiliency plans in the light of our portfolio analysis of climate-related risk.”