Education key to substanability campaign: Multi

Gouda-based retail developer Multi Corporation is planning to launch a Green Academy programme, CEO Glenn Aaronson told PropertyEU WebTV. 'The Green Academy is a new initiative to get local universities throughout Europe involved in the planning and presentation of the principles of sustainability to the public so the public awareness can be heightened not only by a group of real estate professionals but also by educators.'

Education is a fundamental pillar of the campaign to create awareness for sustainability both internally and externally, Aaronson added during the International Council of Shopping Center Europe's annual conference in Amsterdam last week. 'It is our idea to pay for and sponsor educators throughout Europe to help create public awareness surrounding sustainability.'

Earlier, Clare Lowe, principal consultant for BRE Global, announced at the ICSC conference that the first pilot project aimed at facilitating the introduction of the BRE Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) for European retail property will be launched in July this year.

Multi, which is owned by Morgan Stanley, has a development pipeline of 3.9 million m² of retail space, making it the largest retail developer in Europe. Aaronson said that only by creating awareness could the public be given the ability to make choices in relation to sustainability. 'When they have the ability to make choices, when they understand their actions make a difference then we can truly move the sustainability agenda forward.´

Together with Dutch retail investor and developer Redevco, Multi Corporation is currently also involved in ICSC efforts to establish a European BREEAM standard for energy performance in the retail sector. At present, Multi and Redevco are evaluating a total of twelve projects with the BREEAM standard in Germany and Turkey. Redevco is active in a total of 12 countries and has a retail pipeline of 610,000 m² of gross lettable area.