Blackbrook, a specialist European real estate investor focusing on future-proof supply chain infrastructure, yesterday announced that all of its convenience retail facilities in Portugal have been enhanced to achieve BREEAM Very Good ratings.
Blackbrook acquired the facilities over the past 18 months as they were delivered on the Build to Suit basis for the occupier. Post-completion the assets have had photovoltaic panels installed on their roofs, targeting carbon neutral operations. In addition, the assets were analysed and further investments made to achieve the BREEAM certifications.
The project encapsulates Blackbrook’s strategy to target a 100% ESG optimised real estate portfolio across Europe. Immediately after acquiring an asset, the team engages an ESG audit in order to identify ways to reduce energy consumption, accelerate the building’s use of green energy and otherwise align the facility with the latest ESG standards and expectations. Blackbrook also coordinates with its occupiers to identify and support charitable causes in the local communities around the assets it owns.
To effectively measure the impact of investments made in ESG improvements, the team leverages the latest PropTech which enables them to monitor the energy use of Blackbrook’s portfolio assets.
The use of solar energy infrastructure is central to Blackbrook’s ESG strategy. Blackbrook is currently executing a program, together with its tenants, to install solar where possible across its entire portfolio. By maximising this green energy method, Blackbrook estimates the program could generate energy savings of approximately 20MWh on its standing portfolio – the equivalent of powering more than 1,300 European homes. This would enable several of the assets to operate on a fully carbon neutral basis.
All of Blackbrook’s pipeline assets under construction are targeting net zero carbon emissions, maximising renewable energy usage, and a minimum BREEAM Excellent rating, or equivalent.
Blackbrook operates on a carbon neutral basis.
Olivier Lebrun, Portfolio & ESG Manager at Blackbrook, commented: “It’s important for us and our tenants that our assets are as environmentally friendly as possible. Reducing asset-level energy consumption will result in substantial savings for occupiers while having a significant positive impact for our planet. It’s great to see this happening in Portugal and we look forward to seeing further success across our portfolio.”
“As our investment activity across Europe expands, we remain fully committed to attaining a sustainable and 100% ESG optimised portfolio,” added Arvi Luoma, Co-Founder & CEO of Blackbrook. “We understand the significant, material impact that the commercial real estate industry has on the environment and how we can take active measures to immediately reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions. By auditing our existing assets and designing our future builds with the planet firmly in mind, we look forward to helping the sector progress towards a greener and more sustainable future.”
