Verdani Partners Becomes a Fitwel Champion, Pursues Groundbreaking Fitwel Certifications in Collaboration With Clarion Partners, LLC for Largest Impact From One Company

CARLSBAD, Calif., August 29, 2018 /3BL Media/ - Verdani Partners, an industry leader in sustainability consulting and ESG management has become a Fitwel Champion, expanding on its commitment to improve building occupant health and productivity on a portfolio-wide scale. The sustainability firm’s new status as a Fitwel Champion comes as the result of its sustainability management for client Clarion Partners, a real estate investment company with $46.6 billion in assets under management. Verdani has been managing Clarion’s ESG initiatives and green building certifications for four years and has recently submitted a total of six new Fitwel certifications for multifamily residential and office properties including:

• Montclair Residences (Montclair, NJ)

• 1000 Jefferson (Hoboken, NJ)

• 44 Berry Street Lofts (Brooklyn, NY)

• Printhouse Lofts (Brooklyn, NY)

• Infinity Harbor Point (Stamford, CT)

• 100-104 Fifth Ave (New York, NY)

Leveraging Fitwel’s global certification system focused on promoting human health through evidence-based design strategies, Clarion will implement Fitwel’s health and well-being roadmap in five new residential properties in the fall of 2018. This will be the largest portfolio with submissions for multifamily residential properties to date for Fitwel. Verdani secured its first Fitwel certification through another long-time client, CommonWealth Partners, at 560 Mission in San Francisco, CA earlier this year.

Fitwel is the world’s leading certification system that optimizes buildings to support occupant health. Verdani plans to leverage Fitwel to optimize buildings and support health for employees, tenants and communities across several other managed portfolios in the coming months.

“At Verdani Partners, Fitwel allows our clients access to a world-class building certification system that promotes the design of healthy and sustainable environments for their corresponding portfolios,” said Verdani Founder and Principal, Daniele Horton. “Not only does the Fitwel Champion designation reinforce our firm’s mission to provide industry-leading sustainability programs to our clients, but its evidence-based design strategies are also highly deployable by our Green Building Certifications Department. Through the adoption of this platform, we’ve seen great enhancements made to building efficiency and the quality of life for building occupants, communities and cities across the country, while at the same time improving our clients’ GRESB scores. As a global leader in full-service sustainability and ESG management, Verdani Partners is excited to partner with Fitwel in their commitment to achieving truly health-conscious work/living spaces in the built environment.”

"We are excited to partner with Verdani and Fitwel on this important initiative,” remarked Joe Leahy, Asset Manager at Clarion Partners. “Historically, achieving green building certifications has been challenging. Through the Fitwel certification process, Clarion has incorporated cost-effective, health-focused improvements that will increase residents’ quality of life while adding value to our properties. We expect that these successful pilot projects will serve as case studies for future Clarion Fitwel projects."

“The certifications Verdani and Clarion Partners are pursuing represent the greatest health impacts Fitwel has catalyzed for residents of multifamily projects to date. By potentially impacting over 1,000 residents and 20 office tenants, Clarion and Verdani are demonstrating industry leadership and setting the standard for the development and management of healthy homes and offices moving forward,” says Reena Agarwal, chief operating officer at the Center for Active Design.

###

About Verdani Partners
Verdani Partners is an industry-leading, full-service sustainability consulting firm with 100 years of combined experience in sustainable real estate and actively manages over 320 million square feet, 3,000 properties and $138 billion in asset value. Verdani designs, implements, and manages sustainability and ESG programs for mixed-use portfolios throughout the country. Verdani also manages GRESB reporting and creates annual sustainability reports for some of the nation’s top REITs. The certification experts at Verdani manage a wide range of certification systems for clients such as Fitwel, LEED, ENERGY STAR, USGBC’s ARC Platform, WELL, Green Globes, BREEAM, IREM, and more. Verdani’s corporate sustainability, green building certifications, technical service, and educational programs bring an impressive breadth of expertise to each portfolio and project. If you’d like to learn more about Verdani and the work they do, they can be reached at info@verdani.com.

Verdani Partners is a third-party consultant to Clarion Partners, LLC, a Legg Mason company.

About Clarion Partners
Clarion Partners, an SEC registered investment adviser with FCA-authorized and FINRA member affiliates, has been a leading U.S. real estate investment manager for more than 36 years. Headquartered in New York, the firm has offices in Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, London, Los Angeles and Washington, DC. With more than $46.6 billion in total assets under management, Clarion Partners offers a broad range of both debt and equity real estate strategies across the risk/return spectrum to its more than 300 domestic and international institutional investors. More information is available at www.clarionpartners.com.

About Fitwel
Named one of Fast Company's 2017 Top 10 Most Innovative Companies in Social Good, Fitwel is the premiere global health certification system for optimizing building design and operations. Generated by expert analysis of over 3,000 academic research studies, Fitwel is implementing a vision for a healthier future where all buildings and communities are enhanced to strengthen health and wellbeing. Fitwel was created as a joint initiative led by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention together with the General Services Administration. The Center for Active Design, an international non-profit that uses design to foster healthy and engaged communities, was awarded the exclusive operating license in 2016 with the mandate to expand Fitwel globally to the private sector. Twitter: @active_design + @fitwel

About Legg Mason
Guided by a mission of Investing to Improve Lives,^TM  Legg Mason helps investors globally achieve better financial outcomes by expanding choice across investment strategies, vehicles and investor access through independent investment managers with diverse expertise in equity, fixed income, alternative and liquidity investments.  Legg Mason’s assets under management are $749 billion as of July 31, 2018.  To learn more, visit our web site, our newsroom, or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, or Facebook.

©2018 Legg Mason Investor Services, LLC, member FINRA, SIPC. Legg Mason Investor Services, LLC is a subsidiary of Legg Mason, Inc.

All investments involve risk, including loss of principal.

All investing involves risk. Any information, statement or opinion set forth herein is general in nature, is not directed to or based on the financial situation or needs of any particular investor, and does not constitute, and should not be construed as, investment advice, forecast of future events, a guarantee of future results, or a recommendation with respect to any particular security or investment strategy or type of retirement account. Investors seeking financial advice regarding the appropriateness of investing in any securities or investment strategies should consult their financial professional.
 

Contact:
Verdani Partners
(213) 281-5990
info@verdani.com