Use of Cradle-to-cradle materials

The Leaf Shopping is a large re-development, opened in the fall of 2018, and now home to 13 retailers and a restaurant, ranging from a supermarket to fashion and F&B. At the entrance of the site, a public park was created with more than 900 park spaces. In de middle of the parking you find an e-Tree, a ‘solar panel tree’ where solar power is generated. More information is available at www.theleaf.be, featuring a virtual reality experience of the retail park.

Energy Use

All tenants signed a green lease in order to use state-of-the-art energy efficient HVAC equipment and lighting types and controls. Extra insulation and energy efficient heat pumps are installed, whilst the remaining energy demand will be generated on site by solar panels on the tenant’s roofs, designed to cover more than 60% of the tenant’s electricity demand.

Redevelopment

Redevco’s aim was to upgrade the existing degenerate single-tenant brownfield site into a green, energy-efficient and vivid multiple-tenant retail park. Therefore, an asbestos removal and soil remediation program needed to be carried out fist, after which the existing buildings were demolished and all materials that could be re-used in the redevelopment were sorted and/or processed on site. A new construction, with sustainable and cradle-to-cradle materials was built, with a lot of attention to pollution and waste prevention, flood risk and water management, ecological features and alternative transport modes like bikes and electrical vehicles.

Sustainability

The Leaf Shopping Ternat is aiming for a BREEAM In-Use Excellent rating, the highest ever achieved in Belgium for a retail asset. Our Belgian team succeeded to obtain green leases with all tenants in order to acquire this result.

Key measures

• Fundamental optimisation of life cycle costs
• Energy efficient elevators and escalators (ThyssenKrupp).
• Refurbishment of (historic) building façade.
• Optimisation of health & wellbeing qualities (e.g. lighting, indoor air quality, thermal comfort) for Primark staff and clients
• Realisation of water-saving toilets, taps and other sanitary installations.

Learnings

• Green roofs with skylights were installed on every tenant’s roof.
• Solar panels will be installed on all roofs in order to deliver most of the tenant’s remaining energy need.
• Sustainable drainage systems were installed in order to prevent flooding and ground/surface water pollution.
• Installation of water-saving toilets, taps and showers, as well as leak detection and prevention systems.