What Prologis’ Suzanne Fallender has to say about using sustainability to drive revenue

When you sit at the intersection of sustainability and business, you learn what really moves a company forward. Suzanne Fallender — VP of Global Impact & Sustainability at the logistics real estate giant Prologis and a former corporate responsibility leader at Intel — has made a career out of converting aspiration into executable strategy. Her vantage point offers a sharp read on the field’s maturation.

“In the early days, sustainability lived off to the side of a business, focused on compliance and do-goodism,” Fallender said. “Today, that separation is gone.”

Indeed, even in today’s challenging political climate sustainability has become a full-fledged business engine: a source of risk insight, product innovation, competitive advantage, and — most notably at Prologis — a springboard for entirely new revenue lines. Now thoroughly entwined with business strategy, it’s an area leaders are scanning for value-creating opportunities.

The possibilities are enormous, especially with a rapidly shifting energy system subject to soaring demand and grid constraints. But Fallender noted a crucial guiding principle across all climate endeavors.

“Sustainability projects need rigorous payback analysis, just like any other deal,” she said. “That’s what lets us push the frontier without losing our footing.”

Below, she shares advice for navigating the gritty, opportunity-rich reality of corporate sustainability today.

1. Respond to what your user needs. “With e-commerce and AI accelerating, power supply has become one of the biggest constraints on global supply chains, with nearly nine in 10 companies experiencing energy disruption in the past year and seven in 10 executives reporting they fear outages more than any other disruption.This problem is acutely felt by our customers, since our buildings are located where the grid is most constrained: near major ports, highways and freight corridors. We met that need by turning our logistics facilities into energy infrastructure: Prologis has added rooftop solar, battery storage, microgrids and community solar programs, prioritizing locations that help solve both our customers’ operational needs and local utility challenges. With 825 MW of solar and battery storage installed and supporting our growth, we are on track to achieve 1 GW by the end of 2025 and are No. 2 for corporate onsite solar generation capacity in the U.S.”

2. Strengthen relationships — inside and outside your company. “Internally, you need to understand what drives each function and align your goals with theirs. For instance, we forged a strong partnership with Prologis’s global operations team so they could help us engage local teams on sustainability data accuracy. Externally, we spend a lot of time with utilities, listening to their challenges and finding middle ground. And customer energy use adds another layer of complexity: Those Scope 3 emissions are outside our direct control, making partnership and collaboration essential.”

3. Embrace challenges. “We’re moving quickly at Prologis, but there are real hurdles — we’re navigating permitting delays and a grid increasingly strained by AI and data centers. True collaboration with other stakeholders on these energy problems is complicated and takes time. The work is challenging and exciting in equal measure.”

4. Always be asking ‘What’s next?’ “There’s a glut of opportunity, which is why we rely heavily on data — from life cycle assessments for new projects to local-level modeling — to understand where we can have the biggest impact. We keep tabs on emerging technologies through our partnerships and ventures arm, which has led us to deploy solutions like low-carbon concrete, mass timber and self-healing materials. It takes real discipline to choose the best innovations to pursue, but that’s how we ensure we’re investing where it matters.”

5. Learn hard things. “People often assume sustainability is soft work, but it’s anything but. It requires real technical depth — data literacy, analytical prowess, strong stakeholder management. I tell people entering the field that pairing sustainability knowledge with a business specialty — in finance, supply chains or another discipline — positions you far better. And now AI skills are a must-have for everyone. The people who thrive can bridge disciplines and blend technical rigor with human collaboration.”