There is a belief that ESG costs money but in fact, the opposite can be true, says Stefan de Goeij, Head of Property Management at Avison Young in the Czech Republic. He talked to Property Forum about compliance, commitment and tackling all the components of ESG in the real estate industry.

Slovak real estate developer Corwin announced that their Vilharia office project in Ljubljana has been awarded the LEED Platinum pre-certification. This means that the project fulfils the strictest energy efficiency, economy and user wellbeing criteria.

S Immo Hungary decided to install more than 400 solar panels on top of the Blue Cube office building. The solar panels will cover 20-25% of the total energy consumption of the office building

P3 Group announced the issuance of its inaugural senior unsecured RegS dual-tranche green bonds across 4- and 7-year tenors, in an aggregate principal amount of €1 billion. The bonds, which will be traded on the Euro MTF Market and listed on the official list of the Luxembourg Stock Exchange, will bear a fixed coupon of 0.875% for the 4-year tenor, and 1.625% for the 7-year tenor, and are expected to be rated BBB by S&P, in line with the corporate rating.

CTP has started the construction of solar power plants across its entire portfolio, with the first phase of 6 buildings to be installed in Biatorbágy and Üllő, both located in the outskirts of Budapest.  The plants, each with a capacity of 500 kW, are scheduled to start operations in the first quarter of 2022, aiming to meet tenants' green energy needs while reducing energy costs. The project will be carried out by local contractors and will be developed by CTP as its own investment, entirely from its own resources.

After issuing a green bond in 2020, CA Immo signed its second sustainability-linked financing instrument at the end of 2021: a €300 million 3-year revolving credit facility (RCF) with two one-year extension options, whose margin is amongst others tied to the company's sustainability performance.

Immofinanz announced its new Net Zero Emission Strategy. Plans call for a reduction of 60% (below the 2019 level) in all greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 – and by 2040, the company intends to be emission-free along the entire value chain.

BIG Shopping Centers, Israel’s leading shopping center development group, announced the sealing of the first deal for the group’s energy branch. BIG Energia Holdings Kft., BIG Group’s wholly owned subsidiary, engaged in the agreement to acquire all the shares of a Romanian company which holds the rights for the wind turbines erection project in the Braila district of Romania. The project is planned to incorporate seventeen turbines, each of 6-Megawatt capacity, estimated to produce 102 MW in total.

Millennium Gardens, developed by TriGranit in Budapest, is over the design stage of the two-stage BREEAM certification, which puts the office building in the Excellent category.

Since the start of 2021, around 189,000 sqm of offices were leased on the Bucharest market, of which 70% were for spaces in buildings with green certifications, according to real estate consultancy CBRE Romania.