Hines’ 2021 ESG Report — A 10-Year Milestone and A New ESG Framework
One of the world’s largest real estate organizations, Hines maintains a global presence through real estate development, investment, and management activities in cities across 28 countries. The firm strives for excellence as a real estate partner and manager, guided by principles that emphasize benchmark-level services and value creation, workplace inclusivity and diversity, and industry leadership in sustainability. As part of this vision, Hines remains committed to prioritizing environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors across its operations. The company celebrated a decade of ESG reporting in 2022 with the release of its 2021 ESG Report, which included a review of the new Hines ESG Framework.
ESG contextualizes ethical operation and sustainability in business via the implementation and evaluation of business practices and their impacts across three areas: environmental, social, and governance. It frames sustainability from a holistic perspective, accounting for aspects such as a company’s governance structure, employee and social policies, and influence on the planet. At Hines, ESG initiatives represent new opportunities for pioneering sustainability in the built environment and meeting challenges with innovation. Part of a renewed organization-wide investment in ESG, the Hines ESG Framework serves to foster a more strategic and comprehensive ESG approach while facilitating ingenuity and progress.
The governance component of this framework features a foundation of dedication to ethical standards and executive integrity. It also reinforces environmental responsibility as a core value, reflecting a legacy of sustainability established by Hines’ founder. The company’s commitment to the governance focus areas outlined in the 2021 ESG Report underlie these priorities. For instance, the company became a UN Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) signatory in 2021 and began efforts to factor climate resilience into due diligence and decision-making through updates to its Investment Committee’s asset review template.
While the latest Hines ESG Report marked governance-related resolutions as in still in their early stages at the time of its release, most of the firm’s undertakings within its ESG framework’s environmental and social spheres were further along. Its focus areas for the latter involve investing in its workforce and society through engagements across its workplaces, its managed spaces, and the community. In 2021, Hines’ ESG social accomplishments included completing phase one of a philanthropy and volunteering agenda and launching new DEI initiatives as part of its ongoing devotion to promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion.
The company also made headway on projects for tracking the diversity of its suppliers and enhancing employee learning and professional development. In addition to furthering its educational partnerships, Hines began experimenting with a new mentee-mentor pairing approach in last year through the pilot of its proprietary myMentoring program. Moreover, the 2021 ESG Report outlined the early-stage efforts of the company’s commitment to attainable housing and workforce health and well-being.
As evident by the inclusion of climate resilience into its governance objectives, addressing Hines’ environmental impact is a key objective of the company’s ESG framework. This dedication represents a pledge to drive climate-crisis solutions, a response to the built environment’s place among the leading contributors to climate change. To this end, Hines progressed efforts to achieve net-zero carbon and appointed a vice president of carbon strategy to direct carbon-emissions assessments and reduction tactics. It also released the first version of its Hines Embodied Carbon Guide, which explains embodied carbon in the built environment and provides guidance on decreasing it.
Additionally, the firm advanced its interest in the built environment’s role in human health through increased attention to indoor air quality (IAQ). Still in its early phase upon the 2021 ESG Report’s publication, this project will involve conducting a robust investigation of Hines’ current IAQ and continuing its research partnership with Well Living Lab. This alliance serves to support to COVID-19 studies regarding human health and the built environment.
To read Hines’ 2021 ESG Report in full, visit Hines.com/esg/reports.
