Sustainability

ESG

ESG represents the criteria we use to assess an investment's sustainability and social impact: Environmental, Social, and Governance. These criteria help investors and companies make better decisions that go beyond financial returns. Since the introduction of the European Green Deal, ESG has become increasingly crucial in business operations. The Green Deal 

outlines plans to achieve climate neutrality in Europe by 2050 while driving economic growth. To reach these goals, the European Union has implemented ESG legislation, including SFDR, EU Taxonomy, and CSRD. This legislation applies to real estate as well.

SFDR

The SFDR (Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation) requires companies to be transparent about sustainability risks and factors in their investment decisions. This creates greater transparency and makes it easier for investors to identify sustainable investments.

EU Taxonomy

The EU Taxonomy serves as a classification system that determines which of a company's economic activities qualify as sustainable. The goal? To encourage green investments by clearly defining what we consider to be environmentally friendly.

CSRD

CSRD (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive) is an EU directive for sharing non-financial company information. This provides investors with better insight into companies' sustainability performance.

ESG legislation and regulations ensure that virtually all economic activities within the EU must be conducted more sustainably. This also sets higher standards for real estate, which affects the end users of our projects.

VolkerWessels Logistics Development & ESG

To ensure our projects meet all the sustainability requirements, our teams follow a structured approach. We screen each project during the development phase to determine compliance with EU Taxonomy minimum requirements. This ensures we meet SFDR sustainability requirements. In practical terms, this means our buildings perform 10% better than current BENG-2 standards for nearly energy-neutral buildings. We construct all our projects to be airtight and monitor energy consumption across different building systems. We also conduct a Physical Climate Risk Assessment to meet the Do No Significant Harm criterion of the EU Taxonomy.

BREEAM

BREEAM (Building Research Establishment's Environmental Assessment Method) is the global standard for assessing built environment sustainability. It serves as a benchmark for building sustainability performance and aligns closely with ESG regulations. This BREEAM score is therefore crucial for logistics real estate investors. We execute all our projects to achieve at least a 'Very Good' BREEAM rating, aiming for 'Excellent'. A key component is our PV system - roof-mounted solar panels. We implement this in virtually every project, ensuring all our buildings have access to sustainable energy.

Materials Passport

By mapping the materials used in building construction, we enable future re-use and recycling. This ensures long-term value-retention and creates a better design and construction process with reduced material waste.

We link our materials passports to the digital BIM model, allowing us to identify materials early in our project planning process.

Our Sustainability Goals

We develop projects exclusively that align with the Paris Agreement objectives, ensuring our projects are Paris-Proof. Using CRREM calculations, we map out the carbon stranded date. We are already focusing on future EU regulations, such as the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive IV (EPBD IV), coming into effect in 2027. With our sharp focus and forward-thinking approach, we make every project future-proof!