REDUCING OUR CARBON FOOTPRINT

At Macerich, we understand the complexities of carbon neutrality. For years, we have focused our attention on the pressing goal of reducing our operational greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Operational GHG emissions include Scope 1 (direct emissions from sources controlled or owned by an organization) and Scope 2 (indirect emissions associated with purchased electricity, heating or cooling), as defined by the Greenhouse Gas Protocol.

As global understanding of GHG emissions matures, Macerich is shining a brighter light on evaluating the embodied carbon impact of the upstream and downstream (Scope 3) GHG emissions. As a starting point, we are conducting a life-cycle analysis of the costs and opportunities involved in choosing more sustainable building processes and educating our stakeholders regarding the possibilities and impacts. We are currently working to expand our reporting boundaries to include upstream emissions, such as embodied carbon and IT hosting, which we view as material to our business and important disclosures to our stakeholders. Meanwhile, exciting pilot projects are underway to explore opportunities to reduce our Scope 3 footprint. Learn more on p. 37-38.

We continue to vigorously pursue methods to minimize our Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions. In some areas, demand for renewable energy resources exceeds availability. Therefore, to secure a reliable, extensible opportunity to continue to elevate our carbon reduction progress, Macerich moves forward along two parallel pathways: expanding the amount of renewable energy that we generate to support our properties and our communities and reducing our energy usage through efficiency measures to maximize the sustainable energy available to us.

In 2022, our pilot of Turntide Smart Motor System’s emergent technology (p. 33) delivered a convincing return on investment that justified an expansion of our partnership. Additionally, in New York City, we implemented a 750-kilowatt solar project at Queens Center, which provides immediate and long-term financial benefits in the form of utility cost avoidance and prevention of future environment fines from NYC Local Law 97, which places limits on commercial buildings' greenhouse gas emissions.

MARKET-BASED EMISSIONS (METRIC TONNES CO2E)

12%

EMISSIONS REDUCTION YEAR-OVER-YEAR

LOCATION-BASED EMISSIONS (METRIC TONNES CO2E)

13%

EMISSIONS REDUCTION YEAR-OVER-YEAR

Macerich has refined our methodologies to reflect the newest available carbon accounting best practices from the GHG Protocol. These changes include updating 2021 GHG calculations to ensure a like-for-like comparison. LINK