Healthpeak Properties

Healthpeak (NYSE: DOC) is a recognized leader in healthcare real estate with significant reach and impact. More than 30 million patients and visitors utilize the company’s medical buildings annually, and the therapeutics and diagnostics discovered in its research labs improve lives worldwide. Its portfolio of over 750 high-quality assets is leased to leading biopharma and health system tenants to deliver sustained benefits to its investors and communities served. In 2023, Healthpeak hired Stok to develop a 10-year corporate and asset-level sustainability roadmap (collectively referred to as the company’s “Corporate Impact Roadmap”) to achieve its corporate commitments and refine its sustainability strategy. Since then, Stok has been engaged in guiding the roadmap’s ongoing implementation and related projects.

At a Glance

Client:Healthpeak Properties

Location:National (U.S.)

Industry:Healthcare

Size:64M SF (700+ properties)

Project Team:Healthpeak Properties (Client & Owner)

Certifications:Science Based Target (SBT) – near-term targets

Solutions:

ESG Strategy Development
Greenhouse Gas Inventory and Data Management
Stakeholder Engagement
Corporate Sustainability Roadmap Development
Carbon Reduction Target Setting
Emissions Forecasting and Reduction Planning
Whole-Building Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)
Decarbonization Program Strategy, Development, and Implementation
Portfolio Sustainability Strategy, Implementation, and Management
Sustainable Design and Construction Standards
Portfolio Certification Strategy Development

Header: Nexus on Grand, South San Francisco, CA (LEED Gold). Photos courtesy of Healthpeak Properties.

The Challenge

Driven to provide positive environmental impact, Healthpeak set 10-year reduction targets for energy, water, and waste across the portfolio. Healthpeak engaged Stok to connect the dots between disparate sustainability efforts across the company, tying them together into one cohesive strategy tailored to achieve Healthpeak’s corporate commitments.

Tracy Porter

Senior Vice President – Deputy General Counsel, Healthpeak Properties

“Partnering with Stok on our 10-year Corporate Impact Roadmap has been instrumental in aligning Healthpeak’s sustainability aspirations with actionable, measurable outcomes. Their expertise helped us develop a plan that captures the scale of our goals and commitment to excellence—and a path to deliver meaningful, measurable benefits for our stakeholders and the communities we serve.”

The Solution

CROSS-FUNCTIONAL ENGAGEMENT

Leveraging combined expertise in corporate impact and asset-level sustainability strategy, Stok and Healthpeak worked as a team to develop a comprehensive Corporate Impact Roadmap that included operational and building-scale initiatives over the next 10 years. Stok engaged with cross-functional teams and departments across the company to create a robust strategy built with stakeholder input to achieve Healthpeak’s sustainability goals across the corporation and its portfolio.

ACTIONABLE CORPORATE IMPACT AND ASSET-LEVEL SUSTAINABILITY ROADMAP

The 10-year Corporate Impact Roadmap includes visionary outcomes, environmental and social focus areas, corresponding initiatives, timelines, responsible parties, costs, and key results. By conducting stakeholder interviews and analyzing portfolio data on energy, water, and waste, Stok identified priorities for assets and initiatives aligned with Healthpeak’s overarching sustainability objectives.

ROADMAP IMPLEMENTATION: GHG INVENTORY, TARGET SETTING, LIFE CYCLE ANALYSES, CERTIFICATION STRATEGY, AND SUSTAINABLE DESIGN & CONSTRUCTION STANDARDS

To facilitate the roadmap’s success, Stok continues to support the following key projects:

- - - Greenhouse Gas Inventory and Target Setting: Following Healthpeak’s 2024 merger with Physicians Realty Trust, a full greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory and life cycle assessments (LCAs) are underway to establish a comprehensive baseline for embodied carbon emissions. These assessments are central to Healthpeak’s target-setting exercises, ensuring emissions targets are feasible and aligned with its expanded portfolio.
    - Certification Strategy: The team is developing a portfolio-wide strategy to evaluate and streamline the pursuit of building certifications such as LEED, WELL, Fitwel, and ENERGY STAR. This certification framework prioritizes green and healthy standards across properties, maximizing certification outcomes across Healthpeak’s portfolio.
    - Sustainable Design and Construction Standards: To align with the new certification strategy, the team is also creating design and construction standards to ensure that new projects meet Healthpeak’s sustainability benchmarks.

For its sustainability leadership, Healthpeak received the 2024 ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year award for Sustained Excellence from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the GRESB Green Star designation for the thirteenth consecutive year. Healthpeak also received recognition from Newsweek as one of America’s Most Responsible Companies for six consecutive years and also as one of America’s Greenest Companies. The organization was recognized as a finalist in the Best Proxy Statement (mid-cap) and Best ESG Reporting (mid-cap) categories for Governance Intelligence’s 2024 Corporate Governance Awards. The company also earned a 2024 International MarCom Gold Award for its 2023 Corporate Impact Report from the Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals (AMCP).

Madison Jensen

Specialist – Sustainability, Healthpeak Properties

“From the beginning, the Stok team has demonstrated a profound understanding of sustainability program management within our industry. Their collaborative approach enabled us to build, articulate, and strengthen our long-term sustainability roadmap. Thanks to our partnership, we are executing our goals with clarity and confidence.”