Background

Achieving a Climate Neutral Future

The economy did not pay much attention to the issue of sustainability in the first years after Gro Harlem Brundlandt’s report was published by the United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development under the title «Our Common Future» in 1987. Nor particularly after the Rio Earth Summit in 1992. A lack of understanding, inadequate regulatory conditions, as well as a lack of demand were just some of the many reasons. Appropriate responses were hard to come by. Now, some 30 years later, an awareness for sustainable real estate has finally been established.

Despite this greater level of awareness – for example, through the introduction of a wide variety of sustainability certifications – there is still great uncertainty about the exact definition of sustainable real estate. For Thomas Lützkendorf and David Lorenz, a sustainable property should be a building that contributes to sustainable development through its features and characteristics. By safeguarding and maximising functionality and operability, as well as aesthetic quality, it should positively contribute to the following aspects:

• Minimisation of life cycle costs
• Protection and/or enhancement of capital values
• Reduction of land use, raw materials and resource exploitation
• Reduction of our environmental footprint
• Protection of the health, comfort and safety of employees, occupants, users, visitors, and neighbours
• Preservation of cultural values and heritage

Small Picture

The concept of sustainable development is a component which encompasses the conservation of natural resources as well as a social and economic balance within not just one society, but also between different regions throughout the entire world. Hence, our ability to develop in terms of education and economic scope, is a further component focusing on the future. For your property, this means, that the previously outlined conditions for a sustainable development must be taken into consideration and implemented.