The International Council of Shopping Centers (ISCS) has called for the development and adoption of a Europe-wide BREEAM standard for the sustainable assessment of buildings in the wake of the European Commission's push for improved energy efficiency in buildings.
The International Council of Shopping Centers (ISCS) has called for the development and adoption of a Europe-wide BREEAM standard for the sustainable assessment of buildings in the wake of the European Commission's push for improved energy efficiency in buildings.
The BREEAM standard is the world’s longest established and most widely used sustainable assessment method, according to ICSC, and is currently working well in the UK. ICSC is due to hold a first series of meetings with EU policy makers later this month and will push for a common standard in a bid to ensure a level playing field across Europe.
Earlier this year, ICSC set up a Sustainability Working Group, comprising 21 ICSC members in seven countries, in order to ensure that the industry is better informed of developments and to facilitate ongoing dialogue with EU policy makers. Sarah Lee of EU public affairs company Cabinet Stewart, which is helping ICSC gain access to key Commission decisionmakers, notes that despite a drive for improvement, many member states are stalling on meeting energy efficient requirements.
‘We want to prevent separate assessment frameworks being developed across Europe, which is not practical or efficient,' said Jaap Gillis, the chief operating officer of Redevco Europe and chair of the ICSC Sustainability Working Group. 'BREEAM has offered a common approach to ICSC starting with projects in Turkey and Germany as pilot countries and we want real estate developers and retailers to participate in this ICSC project which will help us achieve our aim to create sustainable development sooner rather than later.' Additional pilot projects are planned in France, the Netherlands and other countries.
The current version of the BREEAM Retail standard can only be applied in the UK since it relates to the country’s regulatory and best practice standards and other country-specific conditions. Gillis supports the launch of local green building councils across European countries since national BREEAM frameworks need to be managed and maintained.