Our Goal: Thinking and Acting Sustainably − from the Planning Process to Operation
As the market leader in the shopping center business, ECE is also in the focus of public attention when it comes to environmental protection. Managing 97 shopping centers and supervising a plurality of highly diverse projects for renowned clients in the sectors office, traffic and industries, ECE carries out the development, planning, construction, leasing and management of its objects Europe-wide according to its long-term oriented company philosophy, in which social responsibility constitutes a major aspect.
Applied and actively practiced environmental protection is no novelty to ECE. Sustainability has always been one of our top priorities, which is reflected in the quality requirements for the development and building of our projects as well as in our long-term commitment to an object. This becomes apparent as early as in the planning phase: As a partner of the municipalities, ECE endeavors to develop and realize its concepts for commercial and office properties in such a way as to avoid sealing of further areas. This is accomplished by using already developed sites, so that the respective spaces can be sensitively integrated into existing structures. Moreover, the choice of inner city locations makes it possible to take advantage of the local public transport net, thus enabling shopping center visitors to access and leave the centers in an eco-friendly way.
Sustainability also represents an important factor with regard to the long-term operation of our buildings. Here are some current examples.
- Meanwhile, most of our centers have switched to green electricity – others will follow successively, as soon as supplier contracts allow. The said green electricity supplied by Vattenfall has been certified with the authorized seal of approval of the Association “EnergieVision” for the year 2008. The 48 participating ECE centers will be drawing a total of approximately 155 million kilowatt hours of green electricity in the form of hydro power per year. So far, we have been able to meet 66 percent of our power requirements by certified green power.
- All new buildings are equipped with illuminants of the cutting-edge generation, so that in recent years we have been able to reduce the average energy consumption by 20 percent.
- We rely on renewable energies and on innovative solutions. To name only one example, solar cells have been installed in the Ernst-August-Galerie in Hanover. In addition, we are now able for the first time to completely dispense with electronic mall cooling, thanks to intelligent technical concepts.
But despite all these achievements, ECE’s is continuing to set even higher goals for itself. We welcome public discussion and commit ourselves to further efforts to save energy and reduce CO2 emission.
- A specially assembled environment team, representing all of ECE’s fields of activity, cooperates with scientists and surveyors in constantly exploring new possibilities for saving energy during the building process as well as during operation of our objects.
- Within the framework of the initiative „Cool down”, in which we are supported by our tenants and the manufacturer Philips, we are also searching for innovative solutions for reducing the heat emission of store illumination, so that the need for cooling can be further decreased.
- We support the renowned BRE Institute (Building Research Establishment) in developing a European environmental certificate for shopping centers.
Downloads
- Environmental protection in action at ECE - The example of Ernst-August-Galerie in Hanover
- ECE′s green power initiative in Germany 2008
- Jens-Ulrich Maier, General Manager Construction: ECE and sustainability
