Department of Energy Recognizes Forest City’s Leadership in Energy Savings

CLEVELAND, Ohio, April 10, 2015 /3BL Media/ – Forest City Enterprises, Inc. (NYSE: FCEA and FCEB) was recently recognized by the U.S. Department of Energy for its leadership in saving energy and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

The company, along with the City of Cleveland, the Cleveland Clinic Foundation and the Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority, was honored for participating in the Energy Department’s Better Buildings Challenge. As part of the program, Forest City has committed to reduce energy consumption by 20 percent across a 14-million-square-foot segment of its overall real estate portfolio by 2020.The company’s energy-conservation efforts and those of other program partners have thus far resulted in a five percent energy savings across 4.5 million square feet of building space in Cleveland, the location of Forest City’s headquarters.

“Better Buildings Challenge partners in Cleveland are demonstrating that reducing a building’s energy waste and greenhouse gas emissions offer tangible benefits to help save money by saving energy and protecting the environment,” said Dr. David Danielson, Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. “These partners are also leading efforts to increase greater energy efficiency that can be replicated across the U.S. to create more sustainable communities.”

Forest City’s energy and sustainability strategy is integrated into the company’s core business practices and supported by an enterprise-wide Energy & Sustainability Group, which focuses on operating portfolio energy management, employee and tenant engagement, renewable energy, and sustainable design in new development.

“Sustainable energy management isn’t just an internal goal,” said Forest City’s Joyce Mihalik, vice president of Integrative Design Services.  “In many regions where we do business, cities have set up performance benchmarking requirements where reporting energy use to local agencies is required.”

The Better Buildings Challenge is part of the Better Buildings Initiative, launched by President Obama in February 2011, and is aimed at doubling American energy productivity by 2030 while motivating corporate and public sector leaders across the nation to save energy through commitments and investments. It also facilitates and encourages the sharing of successful strategies.

“The Better Building Challenge has provided us with a forum to share ideas with other socially responsible owners and build relationships with alliance partners.” Mihalik said. “Through programs like the Better Building Challenge, we continue to learn and bring back new ideas for improving the performance of our real estate and reducing our environmental footprint.”  

About Forest City

Forest City Enterprises, Inc. is an NYSE-listed national real estate company with $8.8 billion in total assets. The company is principally engaged in the ownership, development, management and acquisition of commercial and residential real estate throughout the United States. For more information, visit www.forestcity.net.  The company publically reports its sustainability goals and performance, along with a wide range of other metrics and activities, annually in a Corporate Social Responsibility report.  The report, along with other information on Forest City’s corporate social responsibility efforts, is available at csr.forestcity.net or 3blmedia.com/Profiles/Forest-City. 

Contacts:  Jill Ziegler, Director of Sustainability and Corporate Responsibility, 216-621-6060, jillziegler@forestcity.net, or Jeff Linton, Senior Vice President, Corporate Communications and Community Relations, 216-621-6060, jefflinton@forestcity.net.