Aroundtown improves BREEAM certifications

A flagship project is ‘Erasmusstaete’ in Rotterdam: the building’s BREEAM rating has been improved from 32.21% (‘Satisfactory’) to 62.58% (‘Very Good’). Through targeted measures such as improving the well-being of building users and energy efficiency, the EPC rating was also raised from A to A+++. The building holds a Paris-Proof WEII certificate and is therefore in line with the Paris climate targets. As a pioneer in the environmental sector, the Netherlands has introduced the Paris-Proof standard, which aims to reduce energy consumption in buildings by two-thirds compared to the current average by 2050. This is based on assessments that also take into account CO₂ emissions across a building’s entire life cycle.

The certifications were achieved in close collaboration with the auditor Longevity Partners. The results demonstrate that continuous and consistent measures enable measurable improvements. “For Aroundtown, sustainability is not a one-off project, but an ongoing process aimed at strengthening the resilience and future viability of the portfolio. Our aim is to drive the transformation of our portfolio in a measurable way and to continuously develop it further,” explains Limor Bermann, Chief Sustainability Officer at Aroundtown.

More than 70% of Aroundtown’s commercial portfolio holds BREEAM certification. In future, this recertification approach is to be expanded in order to further improve the portfolio’s overall BREEAM score.

Since 1990, BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method) has been one of the leading international certification systems for assessing the sustainability of buildings. Thanks to its holistic approach, BREEAM enables buildings to be compared globally on the basis of defined sustainability targets. It assesses properties across categories such as management, health and wellbeing, energy, transport, water, materials, waste, land use and ecology, as well as pollution. The system defines clear sustainability standards and, through its global comparability, ensures a uniform assessment framework that can be applied to existing buildings as well as new builds and refurbishment projects. BREEAM promotes the assessment of a building’s current sustainability status and its continuous optimisation through the recurring recertification process.
Thanks to its international relevance and broad applicability, BREEAM certification supports user satisfaction and the long-term value retention of properties – a clear added value for owners, tenants and sustainability goals. Over 70 per cent of all commercial properties in the Aroundtown portfolio are already BREEAM certified.