"Certification of the entire portfolio was a huge challenge – none of our competitors in the region were able to stand up to it. We are glad that the project has been a success and has shown that our properties are truly energy efficient and meet a number of criteria that have an impact on the environment. No other developer in the Czech Republic or Central and Eastern Europe has had the quality of so many buildings checked in terms of building design, structure, use, and sustainability. We are not aiming only for our new buildings to meet high environmental standards; our goal is to meet these with our entire portfolio," noted Martin Vaidiš, who is responsible for sustainable construction design at CTP.
The BREEAM In-Use certification has to be renewed every three years. In total, the company plans to invest EUR 1.75 million in building certification. CTP says that it wants to ensure that their buildings are sustainable throughout the building life cycle, and therefore opted to get certifications in the more costly In-Use system, where the evaluation also includes facility management and the building’s tenants, instead of only obtaining certifications during the construction phase.
"Certification of all properties for a player with a portfolio as extensive as that owned and operated by CTP is unique in Europe," said Lenka Matějíčková, leader of the Green Team at Arcadis, a company that certified most of the CTP portfolio. She notes that other companies will follow this trend.
"BRE is delighted to have worked with CTP to certify their whole portfolio to BREEAM In Use. To have reached Very Good or Excellent levels on so many buildings is a testament to the commitment of CTP’s leadership to minimizing the environmental impact of their business," said Shamir Ghumra, Head of Building Performance Services.
"We took an environmentally-friendly approach to construction right from the start and adopted green principles long before they became a trend, giving us a huge advantage over the competition," said Martin Vaidiš.
