«Three properties from the portfolios managed by Union Investment Real Estate AG are among the first buildings in Germany to be certified in accordance with sustainability criteria. The Laim290 and Riem Büro West office buildings in Munich and the Emporio project in Hamburg, which involves extensive refurbishment of an existing high-rise building, all picked up quality awards from the German Sustainable Building Council (DGNB). The certificates were presented by Germany’s minister for transport, building and urban affairs, Wolfgang Tiefensee, and DGNB president Prof. Werner Sobek on Monday at the BAU 2009 show in Munich. “The DGNB quality award requires compliance with extremely strict standards that bear comparison with international certification systems such as LEED and BREEAM. It thus represents a high level of recognition for our properties. The award system provides detailed, transparent information on the holistic quality of the buildings, covering economic viability, energy efficiency and user comfort,” says Dr. Reinhard Kutscher, chairman of the Management Board of Union Investment Real Estate AG. As a founding member of the DGNB, Union Investment was actively involved in developing the certification system, which is specially tailored to the needs and requirements of the German market. “Awarding the first certificates sends out an important signal that will lead to greater market transparency and enable investors to make better informed decisions,” explains Kutscher.
All three of the buildings submitted by Union Investment for this pilot certification process achieved highly creditable results. The Laim290 office building on Landsberger Straße, Munich, which comprises around 14,413 square metres of space, received the Silver award for sustainable building – the second-highest accreditation for sustainable buildings in Germany – as did the pre-certified office project Riem Büro West, which forms part of Munich’s Messestadt Riem development. The Emporio project in central Hamburg, which is scheduled for completion by mid-2011, was also pre-certified Silver. Thanks to its resource-efficient design, energy efficiency and the quality experience it offers both users and local residents, Emporio will be one of Hamburg’s most sustainable buildings.

The three DGNB (pre-) certified properties are part of the portfolio of the open-ended real estate fund UniImmo: Deutschland » (CS della Società)