By Lena Schulz
Focus on sustainability
With a focus on ESG (environmental, social, and governance) and sustainable construction, the second edition of the Braunschweig Real Estate Roundtable met the needs of stakeholders in the regional construction industry. Around 25 guests attended the event on June 20, 2024, which featured informative keynote speeches and lively discussions.
Impact on many small and medium-sized enterprises: Goldbeck presents ESG topics
The partner for the second edition was Goldbeck, a market-leading construction company in the building construction sector, which gave a presentation on ESG in the construction industry with two experts from Bielefeld.
Goldbeck focused primarily on DGNB certification and compliance, and began his presentation by outlining the concepts and implications of the upcoming CSRD reporting requirements and EU taxonomy. The CSRD (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive) is an EU directive that requires companies to produce detailed sustainability reports. The taxonomy, on the other hand, is a classification system that defines clear criteria for sustainable economic activities. It serves as a guide for investors to identify which investments are truly sustainable.
The second part of Goldbeck’s presentation focused on the possibility of DGNB (German Sustainable Building Council) certification for real estate, which plays a decisive role in the industry. It evaluates buildings according to comprehensive sustainability criteria and helps to ensure high standards in the planning, construction, and operation of buildings. A total of 29 of the DGNB criteria are related to ESG criteria, and the four certification levels—bronze, silver, gold, and platinum—make it easy to see at a glance how sustainable a building is from the DGNB’s perspective.
Energy transition in practice: wattif takes charging infrastructure into account in construction projects
The second exciting presentation was given by wattif Europe GmbH from Braunschweig on the topic of e-mobility in the construction industry. Wattif is a provider of charging infrastructure and aims to transform normal parking spaces in front of homes or offices into charging stations. This type of charging is known as “destination charging” and is possible wherever an electric car is parked for a medium to long period of time and where there are no gas stations available or cannot be built.
The presentation discussed the advantages of destination charging and installing electric charging points for builders and property owners, and showed how achieving climate targets can be supported by expanding this charging infrastructure.
Another important practical aspect for many owners was the introduction of the GEIG (Act on the Development of Building-Integrated Charging and Power Infrastructure for Electric Mobility), which could result in fines of up to €10,000 for violations.
Networking and exchange
Afterwards, the event also offered participants ample opportunity for networking and exchange. The positive feedback from participants clearly showed that there is great interest in ESG issues in the real estate industry and that there is a strong desire to work together towards a sustainable future.
Contact the i-strategy real estate team
Would you like to become a partner of the event, have any topic requests, or would you like to be invited to other events of this kind? Please get in touch with us.
Lena Schulz
Sebastian Rebischke
