Building 3, at Prologis Park Prague-Airport in the Czech Republic is a pretty special facility. The sustainable approach to its construction has earnt it the highest BREEAM accreditation of “Outstanding”. This achievement was confirmed in May and the certificate was formally handed over to Michal Vrba, vice president, head of project management Central and Eastern Europe and his team on August 6, by Shamir Ghumra, BREEAM Director, in Prague.
BREEAM is a worldwide independent sustainability assessment scheme for buildings and infrastructure projects and is the most established and oldest system of its kind. Accreditation is recognised across the industry as a leading standard. The “Outstanding” rating is the highest level available, and reflects a score of 80 percent, or higher. The 37,800 square meter Building 3 highlights our continued commitment to developing sustainable facilities for our customers in the central European region. In fact, 27,500 square meters of Building 3 was delivered as a build-to suit for EYELEVEL, a global company that designs, produces, and arranges brand shops for significant global retailers.
“By sticking to our overall business strategy of emphasizing environmental stewardship, social responsibility and governance in everything that we do, we continually raise the development standard across the continent,” says Michal Vrba, whose team managed the project.
Our approach is working - continental Europe counts a total of three logistics facilities rated BREEAM “Outstanding”, with two of them owned and developed by Prologis. In 2017, we received the same rating for our Building 18 at Prologis Park Prague-Rudna – becoming the first developer in the Czech Republic to attain this level of accreditation for this type of building. These two facilities bring the total number of BREEAM-accredited Prologis projects up to an impressive 14, with two rated “Excellent”, two rated “Very Good”, and eight “Good”.
Building 3 gained an overall BREEAM score of 88.3 percent. The design provides significant operational savings, like an 83,5% reduction in waste drinking water thanks to state-of-the-art water management, an advanced leak detection system and the incorporation of rainwater recovery. Energy consumption has also been reduced, by as much as 54%. The facility’s offices are equipped with a unique heating system, powered by custom pumps to heat the floors. The air-conditioning recuperates warmth through a method known as heat recovery ventilation (HRV), which also helps increase the wellbeing of our customer's employees.
Other sustainable measures included converting large parts of the outside areas to be rich in biodiversity, planting native species of vegetation, herbs and grasses, as well as shrubs and trees. These features ensure that the local wildlife, like insects and birds can thrive in their protected, natural habitats. During the construction process recycled materials, or products that contained a high percentage of recycled materials were also used whenever possible.
Sustainability runs through all that we do. For us ‘sustainable’ doesn’t stop at material selection, or energy and cost savings but goes much further to also encompass health and wellbeing. For instance, by creating an attractive working environment for our customers´ employees. Access to- and retention of qualified labour is a top priority for our customers and by offering active and sustainable solutions we help keep them ahead of what’s next.
