Sustainable
Development

Committed, aware and competent
Shaping sustainable development in the real estate sector

As a developing builder and a building developer, we have a huge amount of influence on the sustainable transformation of the real estate sector. And because we’re a global family company, we truly understand the importance of sustainability and building for future generations. That’s why we are committed to constructing futureproof living and working environments. For us, the transition to sustainable development and building is nothing new; it’s an ongoing process that we’ve been working on for some time.

With a history spanning over 120 years, we are proud of our company’s sustainable development – and this is reflected in our culture and values. Our employees are the foundation of our development. They’re a team of people with the courage to venture off the beaten track and experiment with new ways of doing things.

We’ve already reached numerous milestones and have proven on various occasions that we’re capable of surviving crises, overcoming challenges and coming back even stronger than we were before. All of these qualities are key to the sustainable transformation of the real estate sector. But we can’t take on this enormous task alone. Our relationships with our partners work because we challenge one another and because we’re open to new ideas. And that’s what we’re passionate about: working together to make a significant contribution to achieving global sustainability objectives.

STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS

ESG has shifted the mindset of the real estate sector. The industry is increasingly opening up and looking for collaborative solutions. Strategic partnerships are more crucial than ever before if we are to overcome the ecological and economic challenges we face and realise the benefits of these synergies for our environment, climate and people. It’s time to team up!

Together, we can contribute to tackling global issues such as climate change, resource scarcity and social inequality. By sharing our knowledge and experience with our partners and the wider sector on an ongoing basis, we believe that we can minimise our ecological footprint and create innovative and sustainable solutions for the built environment.

Our
objectives

Sustainability means digitalisation

Digitalisation is a fundamental building block of climate-friendly construction. Without data, we don’t have any information about materials, consumption or ways to optimise performance. BIM and LEAN are buzzwords in our industry, but we’ve already firmly anchored these methods into our processes. In the future, we want to expand the use of BIM to environmental analysis and map out not only the planning and building phase, but the entire lifecycle of a building to maximise sustainability and efficiency and minimise resource consumption.

Striking the right balance between environment and economy

We need to build smarter. It will only become possible for all of the relevant stakeholders to exert maximum influence on this essential transformation in the real estate sector when green becomes the new gold. As a developing builder and building developer, we can determine how we will use materials sustainably and efficiently in the future. We are also actively involved in the development of the next generation of construction methods. With our wide-ranging experience – covering everything from traditional building techniques to prefabricated walls and modular timber construction – we want to offer our customers sustainable and financially attractive solutions.

Informing and motivating

Our customers and investors make the decisions. We inform, motivate, advise and support them from the very beginning, right through to completion of a project. We can only achieve powerful synergy effects if all parties have a solid understanding of the opportunities and risks involved in resource scarcity and climate change, their impact on sustainable business practices, and the effects of these practices. At the Ten Brinke Academy, we are gradually rolling out more and more training and further education programmes on the topic of ESG and sustainability.

A few
examples

Office complex in Bonn (DE)

Office complex in Bonn (DE)

This office complex in Bonn encompasses the full spectrum of sustainable construction::

  • Renewable energy
  • Environmentally friendly construction materials
  • C2C and urban mining
  • Grey and rainwater use
  • Sustainable ground use

Plus a natural, green industrial site.

Read more
Moxy Hotels (DE)

Moxy Hotels (DE)

High-quality buildings can also be constructed using modular timber frames, as we’ve demonstrated with 4 MOXY hotels. All aspects of the building, right down to the bathrooms, were industrially prefabricated and constructed in record time. The modular building approach also means that a large proportion of the structure is suitable for recycling. The modules can be disassembled and then reassembled at another location.

  • High-quality technology
  • Prefab construction method
  • High degree of recyclability
Read more
GIZ-Campus in Bonn (DE)

GIZ-Campus in Bonn (DE)

We constructed sustainable offices at the GIZ-campus in Bonn. User comfort was a top priority during the build. Sustainability is a fundamental cornerstone of the architecture across the campus – a decision that is not only good for the environment, but that also reduces operating costs.

  • DGNB Gold certification
  • KfW 55 standard
  • Green roofs and facades
  • Photovoltaic system
Read more
WASCO distribution centre, Deventer (NL)

WASCO distribution centre, Deventer (NL)

The WASCO distribution centre in Deventer (NL) holds a BREEAM Excellent certificate for the new build and renovation. From the beginning, this brownfield project was carefully planned and implemented to reuse existing resources. 90% of the construction rubble was recycled and reused on the construction site.

  • BREEAM Excellent certification
  • Brownfield project
  • 90% of building waste recycled and reused on site
Read more

Sustainability
in our DNA

We made a conscious choice not to establish a sustainability department in our organisation. Sustainability is something that all employees need to think about, and it must become part of our DNA. We created the role of Sustainable Business Development Director to ensure that we maximise our sustainability potential. Nicole Wallner started this role on 1 July 2023. Together with the ESG core team, she will work to coordinate and consolidate all ongoing and future activity.

If anyone asks me how many people there are in my team, I say that I have a team of over 1300 colleagues. Each and every one of them contributes to our sustainable development.

 

- Nicole Wallner

ESG
Strategy

From 2025, we will be subject to the CSRD (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive). By financial year 2025/2026 at the latest, we will publish our first sustainability report in accordance with the ESRS (European Sustainability Reporting Standards). We’re already working hard on this endeavour. As part of our preparations, we will continue to develop our sustainability strategy and materiality analysis. In 2024, we also want to determine the CO2 footprint of each of our business units so that we can assess the impact of our future activities against this benchmark.

Sustainability
certificates

CSR Performance Ladder

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), and sustainability in particular, is a topic that is always increasing in importance. And this is true at Ten Brinke too. As an organisation, we are increasingly aware of the impact that we have on our environment. Society’s expectations and needs in relation to sustainability are also changing. Clients, suppliers, governments and other stakeholders now expect more from us as an organisation. That’s why we are increasingly striving to integrate sustainability into everything we do, step by step, as and where necessary. One of the steps we took in financial year 2022-2023 was to establish a CSR management system based on the CSR Performance Ladder. This system has now obtained level 3 certification. The CSR Performance Ladder translates the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and People, Planet and Profit (the 3 Ps) into tangible requirements.

BREEAM

To make the world a better and more sustainable place by 2030, the United Nations has created seventeen Sustainable Development Goals. The holistic approach of BREEAM means that there is a lot of crossover between BREEAM and these SDGs. 12 of the 17 goals are incorporated into BREEAM, which is a method for assessing the sustainability of buildings. BREEAM gives us an insight into the actual sustainability performance of our projects. The data goes beyond energy consumption and spans the entire construction, enabling us to visualise and measure our performance and progress towards our sustainability ambitions. We are currently working on a number of projects that will be BREEAM-certified, including the Wasco distribution centre in Deventer.

DGNB

Since 2012, Ten Brinke has been a member of the DGNB, the German Sustainable Building Council. The DGNB has developed its own certification system to make sustainable building achievable, measurable and comparable. The DGNB certification system is available in various versions for buildings, urban districts and interior spaces. As a planning and optimisation tool, it helps all parties involved in a construction project to implement sustainability in a holistic way. Ten Brinke has already completed dozens of projects with DGNB certification.

LEED

LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is an internationally recognised certification system for environmentally friendly buildings. The LEED sustainability programme covers various aspects of sustainability, encompassing categories such as location and transport, sustainable spaces, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, quality of the indoor environment, innovation, materials and sources of help, which focuses on minimising the impact and energy consumption of building materials throughout their lifecycle, as well as what happens to a product at the end of its useful life. We have completed various buildings with LEED certification, including the Avenida office building in Greece. The building, which was constructed to the latest Gold LEED requirements and certifications, has a total surface area of 6424.10 m² across three basement levels (2683.59 m²) with parking, a ground floor and seven further floors of office space.