Construction and property development

For new real estate developments, Wereldhave Belgium aims to achieve a minimum BREEAM score of ‘Good’. To this end, the standard requirement programs used by Wereldhave Belgium in new developments have been amended to include the necessary BREAAM criteria. Since 1998, Wereldhave Belgium has focused on sustainability in the areas of energy, water, materials, environment, flexibility and indoor climate, and it has included all these topics in its requirement programme. While the BREEAM chapters differ slightly in certain respects, the methods are easily reconcilable.

With regard to the expansion of the Nivelles shopping centre, Wereldhave Belgium aims to achieve a ‘Very Good’ BREEAM rating. Development projects that were introduced to Wereldhave Belgium’s development pipeline as a result of the acquisition of the Belgian development division of ING will be reviewed to assess to what extent they already meet Wereldhave Belgium’s sustainability ambitions and whether it would be possible to incorporate additional sustainability measures in the design.

Wereldhave Belgium has drawn up a checklist for sustainable building sites to be used during renovation projects. New developments are subject to a more extensive list, which is part of the BREEAM assessment. Contractors must complete this building site checklist regularly during construction to demonstrate that the building site is healthy and safe, and that nuisance to local residents is kept to an absolute minimum.

In recent years, the main focus in new developments has been on achieving high energy performance combined with a high level of user comfort, a trend that will be continued in the near future. In addition, Wereldhave Belgium will increasingly focus on the choice of building materials. The supply and extraction of raw materials will decrease over the next few years, while demand is still increasing. This will inevitably lead to shortages. Only a major degree of product recycling and the application of concepts such as cradle-to-cradle may turn the tide. Wereldhave Belgium recognises this and will endeavour to use more of such products if and when possible.