First pan-European retail sustainability standard launched

The first pan-European sustainability standard for retail property developments was launched yesterday at EXPO REAL by Marcus Wild, CEO of SES Spar European Shopping Centres and member of the ICSC
European Advisory Board. Wild made the announcement on behalf of ICSC Europe during a conference session entitled 'Going Green, Best Practice Examples'.

The new BREEAM standard is undergoing pilot assessment on large-scale shopping centre development projects in Germany and Turkey, and the outcome of these pilots will be incorporated into the standard later this year. ICSC and BRE Global are also currently seeking other projects from European-based developers.

Jaap Gillis, chair of ICSC’s European Advisory Board and Chief Operating Officer at Redevco said: 'We looked at a number of international sustainability standards and chose to support BREEAM because of strong existing awareness of its high environmental standards and its adaptability to local markets. Developers are increasingly working across European boundaries and they want a common methodology that they can roll out across all their operations.'