European developer CTP has the most environmentally friendly portfolio of industrial real estate in Central and Eastern Europe. A total of 292 CTP buildings at hundreds of different locations in six countries have confirmed BREEAM In-Use certification at least at the Very Good level and a number of properties even at the Excellent level. It is thus the most environmentally friendly industrial developer on the Central European market and is one of the leaders on a European scale.
All buildings that are certified by their function and at the same time were completed on 1 January 2020 in CTParks are now certified BREEAM Very Good or higher. "Certification of the entire portfolio was a huge challenge that none of our competitors in the region have gone through. We are pleased that we have succeeded and shown that our properties are truly energy efficient and meet a number of criteria related to the impact on the environment. There is no other developer in the Czech Republic or Central and Eastern Europe who would have the quality of such a huge number of buildings verified, especially in terms of procedures in the field of building design, construction, use and sustainability. We do not only focus on ensuring that our new buildings have high ecological standards, but our goal was to have the entire portfolio with a high degree of environmental friendliness,” added Martin Vaidiš, who is responsible for sustainable construction design at CTP.
In addition, the certification of buildings under BREEAM In-Use needs to be renewed every three years and inspected annually, which represents a significant effort and investment in the volume of CTP properties. In total, the company has invested more than 1.75 million euros in building certification. Unlike many other companies, who certify buildings only during construction, CTP, as a developer who not only builds industrial properties but also operates them on a long-term basis, wants to ensure their sustainability throughout their whole life cycle. That is why the company chose the more expensive In-Use certification, which includes the operation itself and a tenant, without whose cooperation it would not be possible to obtain the certificate.
"Certification of all properties for a player with such an extensive portfolio as CTP owns and operates is also unique in Europe," confirmed Lenka Matějíčková, leader of the Green Team of Arcadis, which certified most of the CTP portfolio. According to her, however, this is a trend that other companies will follow.
"We were pleased to work with CTP to certify the company's entire portfolio according to BREEAM In-USE. The fact that CTP achieved a Very Good or Excellent rating for so many buildings only proves the real commitment of the company's management to minimize the environmental impact of its business,” said Shamir Ghumra on behalf of BRE Group.
"Our company has had a green approach to construction since its beginning. We were already green at a time when it was not popular, and that gives us a huge advantage over the competition," remarked Martin Vaidiš. Now, according to him, the investments into more ecological, but because of this more expensive construction, have been returning. Operationally, green buildings are more efficient for owners in the long run. They have lower consumption of resources - energy and water. In addition, today the vast majority of multinational tenants require quality buildings.
CTP among the world leaders in the certification of industrial buildings
Most of the industrial buildings in the CTP portfolio achieved a BREEAM In-Use rating of Very Good and several properties even Excellent. This means that CTP has an average portfolio of 60.13%, which is significantly above the BREEAM Very Good threshold, and therefore exceptional in a European context. "In the Czech Republic, CTP achieved the highest number of certifications on the market and the company has reached the top in the number of certified industrial buildings according to BREEAM In-Use worldwide," added Lenka Matějíčková.
What does an eco-friendly building look like?
Most lay people today think of a sustainable building as a green building. But a green-covered building made of non-ecological materials is not the best solution. For a real assessment of environmental quality, we must go deeper into evaluation of the technologies used, certificates of materials on environmental impact, etc. For industrial properties, for example, the use of today's so popular and at first glance visible green roofs is not a suitable solution. "The green area on the roof of an industrial park or logistics hall, on the other hand, also brings a significant increase in the carbon footprint of the building due to the necessary strengthening of the load-bearing structure and roof structure," explained Martin Vaidiš.
Today's environmentally friendly industrial building therefore primarily addresses energy savings in the form of a high-quality building envelope, modern and efficient lighting with LED technology and efficient ventilation with the help of air conditioning with heat recovery technology. The future in the energy field of logistics halls is an island or partial island concept, which can be achieved today with the help of photovoltaics on rooftops. For its use, the roofs represent a considerable space, which is otherwise very difficult to use. In the near future, CTP wants to equip the roofs of its parks in the Czech Republic with photovoltaic power plants with an output exceeding 20 megawatt-peak and a view exceeding 250 MWp in the entire portfolio. Necessities in today's logistics halls are intelligent building management systems and quality databases of measured data.
The use of low-carbon materials and the use of certified materials that are environmentally friendly throughout their life cycle are also very important in construction. According to Vaidiš, the future for logistics halls is, for example, the use of wooden structures or recycled materials. The approach to the reuse of existing material is also essential, if it is on the land, for example in the form of an old building on the original brownfield.
In industrial green buildings, it is also necessary to address the issue of water savings. Thus, for example, purified gray water, which has already been used once, is used for flushing toilets, and rainwater management is considered, either in the form of retention tanks for further use, for example for watering or seepage. It is important to leave rainwater at the point of impact and not to drain it through the sewer, or to let it evaporate from the green roof.