INDIANAPOLIS, Nov. 08, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Duke Realty Corporation (NYSE:DRE), the leading domestic only, pure-play logistics property REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust) in the United States, announces the company will target achieving carbon neutrality for its own operations by 2025 and achieving carbon neutrality in alignment with the Paris Climate Accords by 2040. The company furthers its strong commitment to environmental stewardship, social responsibility and governance (ESG) and sustainable development practices by continuing to build only energy-efficient facilities and optimizing its existing portfolio of more than 160 million square feet. Additionally, Duke Realty has made a new commitment to purchase, maintain, and deploy renewable energy, and promote the use of electric vehicles.

"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," said Megan Basore, Duke Realty's vice president of Corporate Responsibility. "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."

Duke Realty has segmented its impact on greenhouse gas emissions into three scopes. Scope 1 emissions are direct emissions from sources owned or controlled by the company. Scope 2 emissions are indirect emissions produced offsite as a result of purchased energy such as electricity and heat. Scope 3 emissions occur across the company's value chain, including suppliers, customers and end-users. Duke Realty will employ strategies to directly impact scopes 1 and 2, while working closely to align strategies with its tenants and vendors to impact scope 3.

Duke Realty will work to meet its carbon neutrality goals by reducing its carbon emissions, replacing energy sources with renewable energy and offsetting its energy consumption. The company plans to achieve these objectives through the following actions:

Making energy-efficient improvements to its existing facilities
Continuing to develop facilities to LEED^®-certification standards
Investing in renewable energy projects
Implementing more efficient means of transportation
Purchasing credible, verified renewable energy credits
Planting more trees and donating to reforestation organizations
Supporting electric vehicles

Sustainable development is an integral component of Duke Realty's commitment to corporate responsibility. The company recently earned top ranking among peers and four Green Stars from GRESB for outstanding performance in ESG and sustainable development. Earlier this year, the company published its 2020 Corporate Responsibility Report. Additionally, the company announced its third green bond in November 2021, bringing Duke Realty's total green bonds to $1.35 billion after being the first industrial REIT to issue a green bond in the U.S. in 2019. Duke Realty recently filed its 2021 Green Bond Allocation Report outlining how proceeds from the offering were used.

About Duke Realty

On a nationwide basis, Duke Realty owns and operates approximately 160 million rentable square feet of industrial assets in 19 major U.S. logistics markets. Duke Realty Corporation is publicly traded on the NYSE under the symbol DRE and is a component of the S&P 500. More information about Duke Realty is available at www.dukerealty.com. Duke Realty also can be followed on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.

Cautionary Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This news release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, including, among others, statements regarding the company's intended use of proceeds from the offering noted above, future financial position or results, future dividends, and future performance, are forward-looking statements. Those statements include statements regarding the intent, belief, or current expectations of the company, members of its management team, as well as the assumptions on which such statements are based, and generally are identified by the use of words such as "may," "will," "seeks," "anticipates," "believes," "estimates," "expects," "plans," "intends," "should," or similar expressions, although not all forward-looking statements may contain such words. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future events or performance and involve risks and uncertainties that actual results may differ materially from those contemplated by such forward-looking statements. Many of these factors are beyond the company's abilities to control or predict. Such factors include, but are not limited to, (i) general adverse economic and local real estate conditions; (ii) the inability of major tenants to continue paying their rent obligations due to bankruptcy, insolvency or a general downturn in their business; (iii) financing risks, such as the inability to obtain equity, debt or other sources of financing or refinancing on favorable terms, if at all, and the company's ability to retain current credit ratings; (iv) the company's ability to raise capital by selling its assets; (v) the company's continued qualification as a real estate investment trust, or REIT, for U.S. federal income tax purposes; (vi) changes in governmental laws and regulations, including changes that may be forthcoming as a result of the change in administration in the U.S.; (vii) the level and volatility of interest rates and foreign currency exchange rates; (viii) valuation of joint venture investments; (ix) valuation of marketable securities and other investments, including volatility in the company's stock price and trading volume; (x) valuation of real estate and other inherent risks in the real estate business, including, but not limited to tenant defaults, potential liability relating to environmental matters and liquidity of real estate investments; (xi) increases in operating costs; (xii) changes in the dividend policy for the company's common stock; (xiii) the reduction in the company's income in the event of multiple lease terminations by tenants, as well as competition for tenants and potential decreases in property occupancy; (xiv) impairment charges; (xv) a failure or breach of our information technology systems networks or processes that could cause business disruptions or loss of confidential information; (xvi) the effects of geopolitical instability and risks such as terrorist attacks and trade wars; (xvii) the effects of natural disasters, including floods, droughts, wind, tornados, and hurricanes; (xviii) the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our business, our tenants and the economy in general, including the measures taken by governmental authorities to address it; and (xix) the effect of any damage to our reputation resulting from developments relating to any of items (i) – (xix). Additional information concerning factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those forward-looking statements is contained from time to time in the company's filings with the SEC. The company refers you to the section entitled "Risk Factors" contained in the company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020. Additional information concerning factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those forward-looking statements is contained from time to time in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Copies of each filing may be obtained from the company or the SEC.

The risks included here are not exhaustive and undue reliance should not be placed on any forward-looking statements, which are based on current expectations. All written and oral forward-looking statements attributable to the company, its management, or persons acting on their behalf are qualified in their entirety by these cautionary statements. Further, forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and the company undertakes no obligation to update or revise forward-looking statements to reflect changed assumptions, the occurrence of unanticipated events or changes to future operating results over time unless otherwise required by law.

Media Contact: Gene Miller, senior manager, Communications & PR, 317.808.6195, gene.miller@dukerealty.com

Investor Contact: Ron Hubbard, vice president, Investor Relations, 317.808.6060, ron.hubbard@dukerealty.com

Duke Realty Targets Carbon Neutrality by 2025