Union certifies three properties under UK's BREEAM In-Use

German investor Union Investment Real Estate has had three of its international properties certified in accordance with the UK's new BREEAM In-Use sustainability standard.

The buildings - the first Union Investment properties to be certified under the scheme - are the office properties West Park in Zurich; Equinox in Glasgow and the 3 Stawy shopping centre in Katowice, Poland.

The assets are owned by Union's open-ended real estate funds UniImmo: Global and UniImmo: Deutschland.

BREEAM In-Use is an international certification system that enables relatively fast assessment of entire portfolios or individual properties. By annually updating property data, the new BREEAM scheme is designed to assist facilities managers with cutting running costs and reducing resource usage and thus environmental impact.

'The future focus of sustainability certificates will be on existing properties,' said Reinhard Kutscher, chairman of Union Investment Real Estate. 'BREEAM In-Use is an attractive alternative to other methods of certification for such properties. The cost of the initial BREEAM In-Use certificate is a maximum of 10% of the cost of a full BREEAM certificate.'

The assessment procedure is internet-based, with a BREEAM auditor checking and verifying the building and consumption data entered by the owner. Unlike the other main certification systems, the certificate is issued by the assessor themselves using one of six assessment ratings ranging from 'acceptable' to 'outstanding'.

Union Investment's property portfolio currently includes 20 properties worth around EUR 2.5 bn with sustainability certification from BREEAM or other major bodies such as LEED, DGNB or HQE.