Atlanta, June 08, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. ("Piedmont") (NYSE:PDM), an owner of Class A office properties located primarily in the Sunbelt, announced today that it was selected as a 2022 Green Lease Leader by the Institute for Market Transformation and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Better Buildings Alliance.

“The Green Lease Leaders designation reflects our commitment to high performance, best practice leasing and the advancement of sustainability across our portfolio,” said Jon Kuskie, Vice President of Sustainability and National Initiatives. “We believe this is an integral part of supporting our primary goal of maximizing value for our tenants and our shareholders.”

The Green Lease Leader program recognizes landlords, tenants and partnering real estate practitioners from a variety of sectors that incorporate green leasing to drive high-performance and healthy buildings. Piedmont was awarded the Silver recognition for using green leases to protect occupant health, increase energy efficiency, modernize buildings and improve tenant-landlord relationships.

About Piedmont Office Realty Trust   

Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE: PDM) is an owner, manager, developer, redeveloper, and operator of high-quality, Class A office properties located primarily in the Sunbelt. Its approximately $5 billion portfolio is currently comprised of approximately 16 million square feet. The Company is a fully-integrated, self-managed real estate investment trust (REIT) with local management offices in each of its markets and is investment-grade rated by S&P Global Ratings (BBB) and Moody’s (Baa2). Piedmont is a 2022 ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year. For more information, see www.piedmontreit.com.

About GREEN LEASE LEADERS

Green Lease Leaders is proud to be part of the national trend toward green leases in commercial spaces, this year’s Green Lease Leaders represent portfolios totaling nearly 2 billion square feet (sq. ft.) and comprise a diverse range of buildings from large and small commercial offices to industrial buildings to data centers. Altogether, Green Lease Leaders manage more than 5 billion square feet of commercial and government space across North America, representing a huge potential for growth in green leases.  In the commercial sector alone, green leasing has the potential to affect 8 percent of leased space nationwide. IMT estimates that green leases can help reduce utility bills by up to about 50 cents per square foot (22 percent) in U.S. office buildings alone, and if all leased office buildings executed green leases, the market could reap over $3 billion in annual cost savings.

Learn more about Green Leasing by visiting GreenLeaseLeaders.com or reading Green Lease Leaders’ case studies.

   Contact:      Sarah Heimlich, Director of Marketing    Company:   Piedmont Office Realty Trust    Phone:        770 418 8800    Email:         Investor.relations@Piedmontreit.com