Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. Announces Sustainability Partnership with Budderfly Inc.

PRINCETON, N.J.--Today, Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE: EPRT) (the “Company” or “EPRT”) announced, as part of its Essential Sustainability strategy, a partnership with Budderfly Inc. (“Budderfly”), the fastest growing Energy-Efficiency-as-a-Service ("EEaaS") provider in the United States. The Company’s first sustainability partnership aims to deliver operating savings to its tenants by deploying sustainability upgrades that are estimated to reduce the carbon footprint of the upgraded properties by up to 30%.

Under the program, EPRT plans to invest capital in more efficient technologies and equipment upgrades that Budderfly will install and manage. The sustainability upgrades will include, but are not limited to: the installation of LED lighting and lighting controls, higher efficiency HVAC units along with HVAC controls and monitoring, refrigeration controls and monitoring, solar solutions, and net metering and controls. Budderfly’s established methodologies as a leading EEaaS provider include identifying the optimum sustainability upgrades to deploy, completing the installation, maintaining the upgrades, and monitoring utilization. Tenants will receive an immediate reduction in their monthly utility costs and will have access to valuable data about their energy consumption, monthly savings, and carbon footprint reduction— all with Budderfly’s Facility Smart Grid.

“Our goal in launching the sustainability partnership with Budderfly is to generate a meaningful reduction in the carbon footprint of our portfolio and contribute to our primary objective of maximizing shareholder value,” said Julia Burman, EPRT’s Director of Sustainability. “In addition, we believe our actions can strengthen our tenant relationships helping them reduce their energy usage, increase their profitability through lower operating costs, and create opportunities for increased customer attraction.”

“We are thrilled to partner with EPRT in the launch of this significant sustainability initiative and to set a leading example in the net lease space together,” said Tom Flynn, Vice President, Corporate Strategy & General Counsel, Budderfly. “We’ve been impressed by EPRT’s commitment to sustainability and their tenant relationships, as clearly evidenced by their investment in the success of this program and their commitment to aggressive savings goals for tenants.”

About Budderfly
Budderfly, the fastest-growing Energy Efficiency as a Service (EEaaS) company in the United States, is the premier sustainability partner for businesses with repeatable footprints, such as restaurant chains, assisted living facilities, retail franchises, and more. Budderfly installs, monitors, and manages a combination of patented technologies, equipment upgrades, and proprietary energy software for its customers at no out-of-pocket cost. Businesses benefit with lower energy bills, a reduced carbon footprint, more reliable operations, and an improved customer and employee experience. Budderfly ranked #2 in energy companies and #10 overall on the 2021 Inc. 5000 America’s Fastest-Growing Private Companies list. For more information visit www.budderfly.com, or follow Budderfly on Twitter @BudderflyEnergy and LinkedIn @Budderfly Inc.

About Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc.
Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. is an internally managed REIT that acquires, owns and manages primarily single-tenant properties that are net leased on a long-term basis to companies operating service-oriented or experience-based businesses. As of June 30, 2022, the Company’s portfolio consisted of 1,561 freestanding net lease properties with a weighted average lease term of 13.8 years and a weighted average rent coverage ratio of 4.0x. In addition, as of June 30, 2022, the Company’s portfolio was 99.9% leased to 322 tenants operating 469 different concepts in 16 industries across 46 states.