Energy and Emissions

We believe that an investment policy that helps us lower the energy consumption of our buildings makes sense for Cofinimmo and for the wider world. Particular attention is paid to achieving potential energy savings for the heating, air conditioning and ventilation. Additionally, we strive to use sustainable materials for as much of our construction and renovation work as is feasible.

All the development projects that we have realised or initiated since 2008 have met or exceeded the stipulations of the European Directive 2002/91/EC, which governs the Energy Performance of Buildings standard. Correspondingly, when setting our budgets, we routinely emphasise the improvement of the environmental aspect of our property portfolio. Thanks to this particular environmental focus, we're proud to say that we have already ensured that Cofinimmo obtains several subsidies for the realisation of works we have undertaken in recent years.

CO2 emissions

As a corollary to the energy management of its properties, Cofinimmo has pursued a reflection process on the CO2 emissions of its properties and its influence on climate change. An evaluation has been carried out on part of the property portfolio in accordance with ISO Scope 1 of the ISO 14064 standard. CO2 emissions of the buildings audited fall within the average of those observed for office buildings in Brussels: 55 kg CO2/m²/year offices. As a reminder, in 2007, Cofinimmo signed a green energy contract with Electrabel. The renewable energy carries the label TÜV SÜD and guarantees the production of green energy at the hydroelectric sites of the Compagnie Nationale du Rhône. This contract generates savings of around 15,000 tonnes of CO2/year, equivalent to the production generated by 8 wind turbines of average power. In 2008 the Environmental Management System (EMS) of 3 buildings in the portfolio (Woluwe 58, Montoyer 40 and Souverain 36) was accredited according to the ISO 14001:2004 standard. EMS certification puts Cofinimmo's environmental policy on a formal basis and is translated into environmental objectives that are attainable and measurable by means of specific performance indicators and for which the costs are kept under control.