Malta Office Park Received An International Certificate

The Malta Office Park office complex in Poznań was the first in the world to receive the BREEAM In-Use certificate in the latest version v. 6 2020 International. This means that the facility meets high ecological standards and is managed in a sustainable manner. And this is not the end, because the co-owner of the complex - EPP - has declared its willingness to cooperate with the City of Poznań for local development.

The BREEAM certificate confirms that Malta Office Park meets high ecological standards and is managed in a sustainable manner - grafika artykułu
The BREEAM certificate confirms that Malta Office Park meets high ecological standards and is managed in a sustainable manner

BREEAM is an advanced ecological building assessment system based on many criteria. Certified facilities, as well as the way they are managed, are checked in terms of their impact on the environment, resource consumption, work comfort, and user health. The new standard developed in 2020 also takes into account issues related to broadly understood the safety and the impact of the building on the social environment.

- BREEAM certification, taking into account the social aspects of office real estate, is on the one hand a market novelty, and on the other one - a process that fits perfectly into the modern understanding of the work environment. Companies are more and more often and more strongly involved socially, and their employees often take individual actions in this area. The prepared report showed that as the owner and manager of buildings, we can be a platform for the exchange of information between employees of our office buildings and the social side. Taking up such a role will allow for the recognition of relevant and current local needs, as well as for more precise targeting of specific activities - emphasizes Sylwia Piechnik, director of the Leasing Department of EPP Office Projects.

The certification procedure covered, i.a. audit of risk and social opportunities resulting from the object's relationship with the environment. As a result of the study, potential benefits that can be achieved in the cooperation of Malta Office Park with the social side were indicated. The first step towards implementing those guidelines was the meeting of EPP representatives with Bartosz Guss, Deputy Mayor of Poznań, during which a declaration on the company's involvement in activities for local development was handed over.

- We greatly appreciate that property owners make every effort to ensure that commercial facilities meet the highest standards. I am glad that the companies operating on the Poznań market want to have a positive impact on the development of the local community. It is worth noting that the values ​​included in the BREEAM certificate are part of the catalogue of values ​​promoted by the City of Poznań: diversity, equal treatment, combating discrimination, openness to different views, involving residents in deciding about the city and caring for the environment and sustainable development - Bartosz Guss, Deputy Mayor of the City of Poznań points out.

As part of the cooperation, the EPP declares that it will undertake actions aimed at: reducing all forms of social inequalities; providing equal access to knowledge, education, culture and healthcare; supporting the modern economy, entrepreneurship, innovation and technological development; improving the condition of the environment; aimed at the protection of natural resources.

These activities are to be implemented through the active participation of EPP in selected social initiatives undertaken by the City of Poznań, as well as promoting and co-organizing social, cultural and educational activities in the Malta Office Park.

- Conclusions resulting from the reports prepared under the BREEAM certificate constitute clear guidelines for further cooperation. The proposed scopes of activities coincide with the areas of the ESG strategy adopted by the EPP and relate to activities for the benefit of local communities, human capital development, health and ecology. The first, very preliminary, consultations with representatives of the city hall showed that there are many possibilities of implementing joint initiatives that have not been discussed so far. Therefore, there is a chance that the new certificate for Malta Office Park will be the beginning of effective activities, beneficial for all parties involved - emphasizes Wojciech Gepner, director of social activities at EPP.

The Malta Office Park safety report and the audit assessing the social value, as well as the opportunities and threats resulting from it, were carried out by the British consulting company CPTED-UK Ltd.

- Security and social impact audits of commercial facilities are a novelty on the Polish real estate market. We decided to cooperate with one of the best companies offering this scope of research. CPTED-UK is a very experienced organization, based on stringent - and tested in practice - British standards, which are often the source of global certification systems. This is a very adequate solution for our facility, as Malta Office Park is an international environment both in terms of the origin of the companies and the nationality of people working in it on a daily basis, notes Konrad Biskupski, director of the Technical Department of EPP.

- The assessment of the social value of commercial real estate is a relatively new criterion in the real estate sector in Poland. Extending the scope of BREEAM certification to include social value is to raise awareness of the impact that real estate has on the quality of life of local communities and other stakeholders. Understanding these dependencies is one of the elements of a very topical and important process of building a society that is sustainable, fair and resilient to the challenges of today's world. The example of Malta Office Park encourages the implementation of policies and procedures that protect building users while contributing to the sense of security and personal dignity of other representatives of the society - adds Bogusława Motylska, director at CPTED-UK.

The owners of Malta Office Park are Henderson Park and EPP. The office complex consists of 6 independent buildings, located right next to Lake Malta. The usable area of ​​the complex is approximately 30,000 sq m.

In Poznań, the BREEAM certificate (previous versions) was also awarded, among others, to Bałtyk, Giant Office or Pixel. Apart from office buildings, also warehouse spaces, eg Panattoni Park or shopping centres, eg Posnania, are certified.

Another "green" certificate is LEED. In the capital of Greater Poland, it is owned, among others, by Nowy Rynek, Business Garden, Maraton Office Building, Andersia Business Center and Malta House.