EDGE Technologies elevates people, planet and ESG performance with WELL
EDGE Technologies has long been at the forefront of the global movement for people-first places. As the force behind a number of strides in the built environment, including the first building in the world to achieve WELL Platinum Certification under WELL v2 pilot (its own headquarters), their sustainability and well-being track record raises the bar.
But what has been the impact of EDGE’s market leadership on advancing environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors at their organization?
Florijn Vriend, EDGE’s Head of Wellbeing & Social Impact, shared her perspective with us.
1. What are your ESG goals for 2023? How do you think about ESG as a cornerstone of your corporate strategy?
We believe ESG is crucial to developing resilient companies that can positively impact the community and the environment as a whole, while also creating long-term value for stakeholders. With this resiliency in mind, EDGE has developed an ESG strategy that continues to evolve with its activities, environment and stakeholders.
The objectives we have for our ESG Strategy are split across different categories within E, S and G.
- Improving global sustainability (E)
- Creating positive human impact (S)
- Driving long-term value creation (G)
The main priority is reducing our carbon footprint through our Net Zero Carbon Pathway, which aims to cut 50% of carbon emissions – at both the corporate and project levels – by 2030 compared to our 2019 baseline and achieve zero emissions by 2050.
At the core of our Social focus, we’re designing for diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB) and adding value to neighborhoods through the projects we build. This includes ensuring our buildings are inclusive and serve both the ecosystem of organizations working in our projects on a day-to-day basis and the surrounding communities.
We know our projects are part of an urban fabric that should benefit the local community. Hence we create areas in and/or on our buildings that are accessible to the public. For instance, one project, Valley, features “an impressive green valley, majestic stairs and sunny terraces that are accessible to all, and from where you can enjoy beautiful views of the city and surroundings.” At EDGE London Bridge, a public park was added to the site, which was co-created with the local elementary school close by. There are plans for EDGE Shoreditch to host a “publicly accessible town hall space on the ground floor and create an indoor street,” providing new hospitality and retail opportunities.
2. How are those goals evolving and changing in response to the market and regulatory landscape more broadly?
At present, there is a lot of movement in the market coming from thought-leading institutes, peers and (local) governments with initiatives and legislation around CSRD, the EU (Social) Taxonomy, Greenhouse Gas Reporting and many more. This is positively pushing the industry to do better on sustainability. On the social level, awareness is rising about these often overlooked issues.
We are proud that thus far, EDGE’s product has proven to deliver a strong fit for today’s market demands and legislative requirements. However, many of the regulatory frameworks are still under construction. We’re keeping a close eye on developments in this space and will align our efforts accordingly. Although it’s in our DNA to push boundaries, having clear guidelines on how to report and measure consistently across markets is an absolute must to be able to benchmark a company’s efforts to do better.
3. Can you talk to me specifically about the “S” in ESG and how WELL might be helping you to address it?
We believe in a world where life comes first. This is evident in our approach to our buildings, where we prioritize positive impacts on human life. Well-being is a key factor in our ESG strategy and we want to create buildings that are inspiring, fun and full of life.
Recent developments in the building-certification landscape show something that we at EDGE have been leveraging for years: the strong synergies between well-being and sustainability. As the overlap between what falls under a well-being building certification and a sustainability building certification grows, it becomes clearer that building sustainably and building healthy often go hand in hand. Building with natural, non-toxic materials, biophilic design and carefully embedding a project in its local flora and fauna contributes to a more sustainable, healthier environment for the people there.
We aspire to create spaces where people thrive – which in turn helps to keep those people healthy and productive at work by reducing the amount of sick leave they require. Rather than adhering to minimum regulatory standards, we believe that our buildings should offer abundant fresh air and daylight, with biophilia and good access to outdoor spaces. And, while we offer diverse options, we nudge people toward healthy practices through our building design.
Well-being is a key driver of our ESG strategy. IWBI is one of the most recognized organizations driving the industry forward on this path, and it serves as a vital third-party verifier in this field, creating quantifiable, demonstrable evidence of our commitment, which we can share with our stakeholders. As IWBI has been a strong partner ever since we embarked on the journey to create the healthiest buildings in town, we predict we will have an interesting journey together and extend deeper into the social side of the equation
Accelerate your approach to health and well-being
As a leading organization for health, sustainability and the application of ESG factors in their business, EDGE is forging a new, dynamic path for others. By leveraging WELL as a roadmap for the health and well-being of their people, they’ve made groundbreaking strides and have seen strong returns.
If you’re looking for ways to empower your people, elevate your ESG reporting or enhance your business performance, learn how WELL can provide a return on investment.
