Deutsche Wohnen takes initiative concerning sustainable building and aims to achieve sustainability certification for all its new-build projects
Deutsche Wohnen has become a member of the German Sustainable Building Council [Deutsche Gesellschaft für Nachhaltiges Bauen – DGNB] and, in so doing, is maintaining its efforts to achieve more sustainability and climate protection in the housing sector.
Henrik Thomsen, Chief Development Officer (CDO) of Deutsche Wohnen SE: “By 2050, our holdings have to be more or less climate-neutral. So that we can achieve this goal we have to plan, build and manage our properties holistically and sustainably – an aspiration that is completely in line with the aims of the DGNB. We are about to embark on a sizable programme of new building, and we will continue to carry out extensive energy-efficient refurbishments on our holdings. To create residential neighbourhoods that are both liveable and future-proof, we feel that we have a responsibility to do these things sustainably.”
For all future new-build projects Deutsche Wohnen intends to use the DGNB certification for sustainable building as standard. This means that the entire life cycle of a building – from the planning stage to construction to the use of the building through to its eventual repurposing or demolition – is taken into account. Moreover, Deutsche Wohnen wants to lead the way when it comes to the refurbishment of its existing holdings, and is planning to obtain certification for its major residential estates. Henrik Thomsen: “With our holdings of approximately 165,000 units, this is a significant lever for achieving more sustainability in the housing sector.”
Johannes Kreißig, Managing Director of DGNB: “We are delighted to be able to welcome Deutsche Wohnen, one of the largest property companies in Europe, as a member. With its certification plans for both individual residential buildings and whole estates, the company is taking a further important step forward by having its construction activity monitored in an independent quality assurance and checking process. This is an important signal – to the rest of the housing industry as well - for greater transparency and quality with regard to sustainability.”
Sustainable building is already an established tradition at Deutsche Wohnen. When it comes to both refurbishments and new builds, Deutsche Wohnen’s planners place great importance on sustainable materials and architectural quality. At the same time, they take the existing building culture into consideration too. A consequence of this is that the company received a platinum certificate last year, the highest award conferred by the DGNB, for four newly built solid timber apartment houses in Elstal near Berlin. And in 2018, Deutsche Wohnen succeeded in achieving DGNB gold certification for an existing building for the first time following its refurbishment of a residential and commercial building at Argentinische Allee 221 in Berlin that was originally built in 1970. The company’s membership of the DGNB is the logical next step in the collaboration between these two organisations.
During the next 10 years, Deutsche Wohnen is planning investments of more than EUR 5 billion in the construction of new residential, commercial and nursing care properties. In total, the company will create approximately 15,000 new flats and 265,000 m2 of commercial space, particularly in the metropolitan regions of Berlin, Leipzig, Dresden, Hamburg, Munich, Stuttgart and Frankfurt am Main.
Since its foundation in 2007, the DGNB has supported the idea of verifiably good-quality buildings and liveable neighbourhoods – in short, the idea of a built environment that is fit for the future. Its aim is to transform the building and property market in such a way that it has an appropriate understanding of quality as the basis for responsible and sustainable actions.
Sustainable building means creating harmony between economic, ecological and social factors. Accordingly, it also means focussing not only on resource conservation and environment-friendly building, but above all on the future user, i.e. socio-cultural and functional aspects. Indeed, the DGNB’s sustainability concept even goes a step further. Technology, processes and location play a significant role in the planning and construction of buildings and these aspects are taken into consideration in the DGNB’s certification system as well.
Deutsche Wohnen
Deutsche Wohnen is one of the leading publicly listed residential property companies in Europe. The business focus of the company is on managing its own portfolio of residential properties in dynamic metropolitan regions and conurbations in Germany. Deutsche Wohnen sees itself as having both a social responsibility and a duty to maintain and newly develop good-quality and affordable housing in vibrant residential neighbourhoods. As at 30 September 2020, the portfolio comprised a total of around 165,700 units, of which 162,700 are residential and 3,000 commercial. Deutsche Wohnen SE is listed in the Deutsche Börse’s DAX and is also included in the leading indices EPRA/NAREIT, STOXX Europe 600, GPR 250 and DAX 50 ESG.