Grosvenor Americas, the privately owned international property group, announces the appointment of Lauren Krause as Environment, Social & Governance (ESG) Director. Promoted to the Company’s senior leadership team effective July 1, 2020, she will lead Grosvenor in its World Green Building Council’s (WGBC) Net Zero Carbon Buildings Commitment, which includes achieving net zero operating emissions by 2030. In addition, Lauren will enhance Grosvenor’s existing focus on delivering social benefit and lead the Company’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Committee.

Steve O’Connell, Chief Executive of Grosvenor Americas, said “We created this position to further shape Grosvenor Americas’ commitment to creating positive social impact through our work in the cities where we own and develop properties. This is a progressive step toward helping to future proof Grosvenor and our partners for environmental resilience and to ensure we are doing what we can for socio-economic change -- we are very pleased Lauren is leading us in this endeavor.”

Lauren most recently held the position of Senior Development Manager for Grosvenor’s San Francisco office. As a key member of the Development team for the past four years, Lauren has proven leadership ability, having played an instrumental role in a series of strategic acquisitions, community engagement programs, entitlement approvals and delivery of green building designs. She is an active member of the Urban Land Institute, serving on the Executive Board and on a National Product Council.

In her new post, Lauren will evolve sustainability and social benefit such that they live at the heart of Grosvenor’s North American business. She will help establish carbon policies for Grosvenor’s portfolio in the US and Canada, which includes a Development pipeline valued at $6.2B and 4,740 residential homes. The Company manages over $4.0bn of Investment property and has 4.9m square feet of new development, the majority of which will be targeted, designed, and constructed to LEED Gold standards.

Lauren will also head up Grosvenor’s charitable giving efforts, an initiative which recently saw the company give $370K to support community-based organizations, key workers and vulnerable groups in Washington, D.C., San Francisco and Vancouver impacted by the Pandemic.

“Grosvenor has a long history of progressive thinking and meaningful action -- I’m delighted to be tasked with shaping our plans to deliver social benefit to our communities, to achieve our aggressive sustainability goals and to advocate for equality, diversity and inclusivity,” said Lauren Krause

Whether developing or managing a single asset, or operating at a larger neighbourhood scale, Grosvenor aims to deliver lasting commercial and social benefit in communities where it operates. For example, at 1500K in Washington, D.C., Grosvenor’s substantial investment in sustainable practices and technologies dramatically improved the economic and environmental efficiency of a historical designated office building. Since the renovation, tenancy rates have almost doubled from 48% to 92%, maximizing the use of the space and boosting profitability. Grosvenor is also providing one of the first non-residential buildings built to an international Passive House energy efficient standard to the City of Vancouver.

In 2019, Grosvenor became a signatory to the WGBC Net Zero Carbon Buildings Commitment, pledging to achieve net-zero carbon operational emissions from all its directly managed buildings globally by 2030 and advocate for all buildings to be net zero carbon in operation by 2050. As a committed signatory, Grosvenor will accelerate action across its global portfolio and help mitigate climate change. The Greenhouse Gas Protocol emissions scopes underpin the WGBC’s Commitment; aiming to limit global warming to below 2oC and reduce operating emissions from buildings (currently 39% of energy-related CO2 emissions) through the five components of the Commitment framework: COMMIT, DISCLOSE, ACT, VERIFY, ADVOCATE.