Sustainable and ecological building

Acting responsibly for people and the environment

The building industry is responsible for 30% of greenhouse gas emissions in Germany and thus offers enormous savings potential. As a project developer and builder, our primary goal is to eliminate negative environmental impacts and enhance positive ones. We want to contribute to environmental and climate protection and reduce our ecological footprint. The establishment of a group-wide ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) working group and the publication of a sustainability report was a fundamental step towards establishing and further developing successful sustainability management.

We are convinced that building modern, energy- and emission-efficient properties in a way that saves resources offers long-term benefits to investors and buyers as well as tenants. Investors benefit from high market attractiveness and value stability, apartment buyers from a long useful life and – like tenants – from lower ancillary costs.

New office building from the outside with green meadow, trees and people

DGNB certifications of our new commercial construction projects

For our current and future office and commercial properties, we already focus on higher sustainability standards during the development and planning stages and strive for certification in accordance with the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Nachhaltiges Bauen e. V. (DGNB, German Sustainable Building Council). With the DGNB PreCheck, sustainability criteria are analysed according to the current project status. The result shows possible certification results, reveals topics not previously considered and offers the opportunity to develop clear targets. Discover our current new construction projects here!

All new building projects at a glance

PROJECT: Future

Our sustainability report comprehensively examines all aspects of sustainability across our entire value chain. In joint efforts of the PROJECT Immobilien Group and the PROJECT Investment Group (PROJECT Group), the report with the motto “PROJECT: Future” documents not only the current status, but also provides insights into joint goals according to ESG criteria.

Download our sustainability report here:

Sustainability report 2020 (DE)

Sustainability mission statement

Sustainability in the ecological sense takes on a particularly high priority in the construction and real estate industry. However, further sustainable efforts in the areas of social and governance are also necessary in order to do justice to all stakeholders in the long term and to be comprehensively sustainable. Our actions, whether internal or external, are manifested by the following guiding principles:

01

As an essential part of our value system, our strategies and structures, we focus on the principles of sustainability in the long term. These include ecology, economy and social issues.

02

The development of our investment concepts and properties takes place in a trusting partnership within the PROJECT Group.

03

We continuously improve and meet the resulting requirements of our stakeholders.

04

We are aware of our importance for the sustainable development of the quality of life and living in metropolitan areas and accept the challenge in terms of social responsibility to implement this sustainably.

05

We are an attractive employer and maintain an appreciative and open working atmosphere.

Bird's eye view of the road with surrounding meadow and trees

Sustainability strategy

The following four fields of action were defined on the basis of our sustainability principles, from which corresponding objectives and sustainability-relevant measures were derived:

Environment

Conserving and saving resources in the company (office locations) and in the construction and operation of our real estate.
Protecting the environment by reducing business trips and enabling mobile working.
Increasing use of renewable energies and looking at future CO₂ emissions at our properties.
Taking a life-cycle approach into account, using sustainable building materials and exploiting potential in recycling.

Products

Weigh up conflicts of interest of all stakeholders for the benefit of sustainable product and service quality and responsibly bring about a solution.
Continue to raise internal awareness of sustainability and the value chain of the PROJECT Group.
Continue to focus on and expand demand-oriented (target group-oriented), qualitative and value-preserving construction.

Employees

Our employees are crucial to the success of our company. Therefore, a healthy and appreciative atmosphere and the development opportunities, in the sense of equal treatment, of our employees are close to our hearts. Wherever possible, we consider the personal situation of our employees.
The managers fulfil their role model function and carry the values into the company.

Society

With our corporate activities, we make a positive contribution to society: creating housing for diverse user groups, improving the quality of the location, with good investments we contribute to old-age provision as well as wealth creation and preservation.
With our PROJECT Life Foundation, we support charitable organisations and worthy aid projects in the regions in which we operate.
For us, long-term and responsible corporate governance means clearly defining goals, communicating them internally and publicly and taking them into account in our daily actions so that the topic of sustainability retains the necessary relevance.

What does ESG stand for with the PROJECT Group?

Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG): In corporate decisions and processes, we want to take ecological and social requirements into account and orient ourselves towards the long-term use of opportunities and sustainable optimisation of our business processes. It is planned to implement the newly formulated sustainability strategy in the company, which is to be understood as a commitment to sustainable action and with which we lay the foundation for a sustainable future.

Ecological aspects
1. PROJECT Group (corporate level)
- CO₂ footprint, reduction targets and savings potentials
2. PROJECT funds with ESG approaches
- Increasing requirements for projects and verification obligations
- Article 8 funds with ESG features
- Article 9 funds (impact funds) with sustainability goals
3. PROJECT Immobilien
- New construction to at least KfW 55 standard, in future KfW 40 standard
- Low primary energy consumption, low CO₂ operation
- Use of renewable energies
- Introduction of climate reporting (climate risk analysis, life cycle assessment), evaluation of recycling and degradability
Socio-economic aspects
1. PROJECT Group (corporate level)
- Expanding KPIs and setting quantitative targets in human resources management
2. PROJECT funds with ESG approaches
- Existing or rental housing funds
3. PROJECT Immobilien
- KfW and ESG labels confirm sustainability and make financing easier
- Creation of housing supply in metropolitan regions
- In the area of residential sales, the offer is tailored to middle incomes, in rental housing to affordable rent levels
- Social criteria: public transport connections, social areas e.g. for day care centres, code of ethics for dealing with tenants and admixture of publicly subsidised housing construction
Political aspects and corporate governance
1. Political aspects
- EU Taxonomy and Disclosure Regulation
- Reporting requirements for providers of capital investments (PROJECT funds)
- Investment strategy of institutional investors is more strongly oriented towards ESG criteria and share of sustainable investments increases
2. Corporate governance PROJECT Group
- Federal Financial Supervisory Authority approves each new fund and has control function
- Sustainability reporting as a further control element for corporate governance
- Internal training
- Join and sign initiatives

Our contribution to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals

The PROJECT Group has dealt with the 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the United Nations (UN) and indirectly relates them to its sustainability goals in the following selection:

Good health and well-being

Promoting employee health through targeted measures (workplace, job bike, exercise challenges, etc.)
Creation of low-barrier and barrier-free living space

Affordable and clean energy

Alternative energy concepts and use of renewable energies in our new building projects

Decent work and economic growth

Commitment to OECD guidelines and UN guiding principles on workers' rights
Employer with company headquarters in Germany
Code of Conduct formulates values and principles for lawful and ethical conduct for us and our business partners

Industry, innovation and infrastructure

Requirement of public transport connections for all our properties
New living concepts and use of innovative products
Creation of new residential and commercial space through revitalisation of disused and unused areas

Sustainable cities and communities

Provision of affordable housing in the medium rental segment
Redensification of urban areas and closing of gaps
Neighbourhood developments and adaptation to user target groups

Climate action

Energy-efficient construction and use of renewable energies
Support of e-mobility (internal/external)
Measurability of resource consumption and emissions
Life cycle assessment

Life on land

Promotion of biodiversity, e.g. nesting boxes, bee protection
Creation of ecological compensation areas

Tablet on table with pen, notepad and coffee cup

Visit our profile at the DNK

The PROJECT Group has published a comprehensive sustainability declaration according to the criteria of the German Sustainability Code (Deutscher Nachhaltigkeitskodex – DNK) and has now received the official seal of the DNK.

In the so-called declaration of conformity, which is now publicly available in the DNK database, the PROJECT Group discloses and details all sustainability performance in its business fields according to ecological, economic and social aspects. The declaration refers to a total of 20 sustainability criteria and numerous non-financial indicators.

To DNK profile