Since the publication of the well known Brundtland Report (1987) a widely-used and accepted international definition of sustainable development is: “To meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs”. Sustainable development does not focus solely on environmental issues. More broadly sustainable development considers the “Triple Bottom Line” of environmental, social and economic issues.

Over the past 20 years sustainability issues, particularly the energy consumption, in the real estate sector have rapidly gained more attention and are emerging as significant concerns for both investors and developers. According to the European Commission, some 40% of the total final energy consumption in the EU is related to buildings. Electricity causes a large share of the environmental impact during the life-cycle of buildings. It is not surprising that buildings have been identied as an important platform from which to tackle the EU’s burdensharing Kyoto target. In 2006 the EU introduced the European Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) that aims to reduce the energy requirements and CO2 emissions for the buildings sector. The most visual impact of the EPBD will be certification. Our buildings will be graded according to their energy efficiency and issued with an Energy Performance Certificate – in much the same way that white goods are labeled. It can be expected that in the future, this legislation will be further tightened. As these issues rise up the corporate agenda, real estate investors and developers will need to question the environmental footprint of their portfolios. It is expected that the EPBD has far-reaching implications for all stakeholders in the property industry and contribute to a growing demand for energy efficient buildings.

A growing demand for energy efficient buildings will also stem from the energy prices, which have increased in recent years and are expected to stay at relatively high levels. High prices have raised awareness about energy costs and provide a stronger incentive for our tenants to reduce their energy consumption. Where energy costs account for an increasing proportion of total costs and energy prices rise, tenants will have a greater incentive to demand more energy efficient buildings. Especially those tenants reporting on their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

In our mission we stated that “the pursuit of a balance between performance, people and society is a key feature of our business”. In compliance with our mission, Redevco is committed to sustainable development beyond doubt. We know that successful sustainable development cannot be implemented in just a few months or years. A “policy of small steps” designed to gradually secure specific improvements, environmental and economic, seems to make more sense to us than idealistic requirements at any price which cannot feasibly be implemented. By making sustainability part of the way we work, we believe that our small everyday actions add up to concrete improvements.

In order to demonstrate our commitment we aim to assess our new development projects according to global green building standards. Green building standards will be used as a guide and an objective tool in making our buildings green. A green building standard gives us and our stakeholders insight into the performance of individual buildings, based on land use, energy use, water, building materials, occupant health and well-being, transport, pollution, ecology and management.