Brenna Walraven

Biography: Brenna S. Walraven CEO and Founder, Corporate Sustainability Strategies, Inc. Ms. Walraven has proven track record in executing the business case for how to successfully lead a national effort of improved energy management, operational efficiency and environmental stewardship. Her company’s first client was USAA Real Estate Company (Realco), her former employer for almost 16 years and for whom she continues to lead their sustainability execution. Experience includes roles as Head of Property Operations and Portfolio Manager, with responsibilities and skills including providing strategic leadership and direction for a $12B, 100M square foot national multi-sector real estate portfolio reporting to the CEO. Results include: 13 Energy Star Partner of the Year Awards, the most by any real estate company, saving of over $23M and energy consumption reductions of over 44%. Led by Ms. Walraven’s expertise, USAA Realco has also had consistent top performance recognition with the Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB) having at least one fund named a Green Star and ranked in the top 5 for 5 of the first 6 years of existence for leadership in sustainability strategy, corporate social responsibility, management and execution. In fact, three separate CSS clients have now achieved GRESB Green Star status, including a Sector Leader for US Office and 3rd ranking for US Diversified Portfolio. Ms. Walraven has long been actively involved in Building Owners & Managers Association (BOMA), including serving as Chairman and Chief Elected Officer of BOMA International, and is a BOMA Fellow. As part of her leadership within BOMA, she partnered with the Clinton Climate Initiative in 2007 to help develop a private sector approach to energy performance contracting (EPC) where retrofits are paid for over time out the savings generated by large building retrofit projects. In 2015, Ms. Walraven led the efforts to re-launch the BOMA Energy Performance Contract (BEPC) model with new refined tools, case studies and implementation partners. Similarly Brenna was a founding leader in the development of the BOMA Energy Efficiency Program (or BEEP) and was named chair of the BEEP Advisory Board in 2015 to lead the updating, recording and re-launching of the BEEP program – which has trained over 20,000 real estate professionals since 2006. Brenna has an undergraduate degree in Economics and an MBA, both from University of Southern California. She has served on the board of directors and as vice chair of the Sustainability Policy Advisory Council for the Real Estate Roundtable. Brenna also served on California Governor Schwarzenegger’s Real Estate Leadership Council and has testified before US Congress on issues of energy efficiency and sustainability. Brenna has been a public speaker for over 15 years, been interviewed on Bloomberg News among other leading media outlets and written articles on issues surrounding real estate strategy, thought leadership and sustainability.