Grocery retailer Lidl Danmark, part of the German discount food chain, has become the largest owner of certified green buildings in Denmark, having achieved Edge green building certification for its portfolio of stores throughout the country.
Edge was created by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), part of the World Bank, to streamline the greening of buildings. It is supported by free software that encourages solutions to reduce energy, water and embodied energy in materials by at least 20%, which is the minimum standard for Edge certification.
Mads T. Nielsen, chief property management officer for Lidl Danmark, said: 'As one of the largest retailers in the world, we feel a responsibility to help reduce environmental impact when we modernise and build new stores.
'Buildings and their operation are areas where we are committed to operating in an environmentally sound manner. That is why today we already build using environmentally friendly components, with, for example, led lights, low-energy windows and water savers in all stores.
'We have therefore been able to get all our stores and warehouses Edge-certified, a certification that proves that we build according to internationally recognised sustainability standards.'
The Lidl Danmark stores were certified by Sintali-SGS, one of IFC’s global certification providers.
Eleni Polychroniadou, commercial director at Sintali said: 'According to the Danish Green Building Council, up until now, there were 96 buildings certified widely across different organisations in Denmark.
'With Lidl Danmark’s certification of 119 buildings, it would be safe to say that Lidl is now the largest owner of reported green building certified assets in Denmark. By taking a portfolio approach and greening its entire stock of buildings, Lidl Danmark is proving that scale is possible with Edge and taking a position of leadership in the global real estate market.'
Lidl Danmark said it plans to build 21 new stores in 2021, which will be built according to Edge standards and undergo certification.
