About the Project

‘Imagine yourself transforming a former waste dump into an attractive and green logistics center’.

 It may sound idealistic and it’s not a standard (yet) but this is actually the case. Prologis has taken this brownfield site and developed a 40,000 square meter logistics facility with a clear height of 12.2m including 1,000 sqm offices and 3,500 sqm mezzanine space. The site is located on our Prologis Park Eindhoven, one of the key Logistic hot spots in the South of the Netherlands. In the 70’s and 80’s the site was used as a waste dump for domestic waste. The site was characterized by ‘complex’ soil conditions and challenging environmental aspects due to the contamination.

 Our ambition to create the most sustainable, all-comprehensive approach building is in itself unique, however this particular project started life as a speculative development. Our futureproofing targets where to design a building without local emissions (no gas-connection), net zero-carbon output (by generating more energy than it’s own energy consumption) and with a people-centric design making it a healthy and pleasant working space, set in an ecological environment rich for recreation and biodiversity.

A unique building design that’s ahead of what’s next by it’s flexible architectural design and innovative technologies which allows accommodation of multiple occupants and operations. Our ambition is to create an exemplary project that inspires and sets the standard for future developments in the logistics sector.

In short: this is a future-proof building that will continue to add value for future generations to it’s environment, community and the economy.

A brilliant new perspective – Prologis Park Eindhoven DC4 – 2160p – prologis

Why BREEAM?

We see BREEAM as the fundamental starting block that provides oversight at all levels of sustainability.

BREEAM acts as the backbone of our sustainable development goals and is strengthened by other labels like WELL Building certification, ISO14001 and NL Green Label.

The BREEAM certification is the tool to compare the sustainable performance of buildings in a transparent and measurable way. With the application of the BREEAM methodology we are  identifying solutions that help Prologis and our customers reduce collective carbon impacts.

Who required it?

In first instance Prologis and its employees, since we are conscious about the impact of our organization on the environment, whether that’s the footprint of our activities or the livability of the built area we create. In highly populated areas we feel even more responsible for creating attractive, healthy and pleasant places to stay inside and around our facilities for our customers, their employees and the community.

From a business perspective our tenants and their end-customer often demand a BREEAM certified building. In doing so we enable our tenants prove that they’re running a sustainable business  and supply chain helping them to lower their footprint and reach their environmental goals.

Green building certifications like BREEAM are an integral part of the Prologis Green Bond Framework which allocates proceeds to Eligible Green Projects. Green bonds are used to attractively fund projects that increase sustainability and reduce environmental impacts.

Committing to a Green Bond helps us attract and retain tenants, improve the quality of our buildings with new features that reduce operational costs and environmental impacts, and attract environmentally conscious investors.

Changes made to the development and its procurement/management as a result of using BREEAM:

By setting the Outstanding standard we have challenged and encouraged the whole supply chain in proposing best practices for this development. The request for proposal challenged bidders to propose innovative solutions for heating and cooling compliant to our sustainability goals. Creativity to meet the sustainable objectives was one of the selection criteria during the tender process.

For several procurement packages we awarded the scope with most ingenuity to meet BREEAM credits best instead of simply pricing. We have learned that by having the highest sustainability ambitions it is difficult to define exact scope in an early stage, in particular given the narrow time frame to build the warehouse. To mitigate this issue Prologis and GC Van der Heijden came to a best efforts obligation allowing the project team to optimize the project further during engineering and construction phase.

A trustful relationship, open-minded approach and defining BREEAM Outstanding as a common goal for all stakeholders shaped the culture “we’re in this together and let’s make it happen”.

Categories the building performed well in:

Environmental Challenges & Green Strategy

What were the buildings/clients environmental and green strategy challenges?

Site specific challenges: Eindhoven DC4 is built on a brownfield. In the 70’s and 80’s the site was partly used as waste dump for domestic waste resulting into complex soil conditions and challenging environmental aspects due to contamination. To make the re-use of this land possible special measures were necessary. Our plan incorporated soil remediation, a gas drainage system under the building and a special concrete foundation to withstand the aggressive toxic subsoil. To ensure the load bearing capacity and avoid settlement of the super flat and jointless floor 15.000 high speed piles have been installed.

Flexible design: The fact that the project started as a speculative development forced us to design a generic solution suitable for multiple functions and operations. Imagine a column-free expedition area by designing a hanging mezzanine suitable for all kinds of operations without hindrance of columns!

Green ambition: Due to the lack of water retention possibilities on site we collaborated closely with the Water Authorities. To meet their requirements we created a pond connected to the public waterways and combined this with an outside relaxation area for employees.

Innovative technologies: Our goal to design this project without gas connection was a big challenge. Stepping away from proven techniques and explore new concepts means getting out of your comfort zone to make it happen.

How BREEAM helped to overcome these:

Breeam has been used as a base structure to deal with these challenges. The categories within the BREEAM methodology provided a structured and systematic approach. Not just based on feeling but in a controlled and substantiated manner. The BREEAM Outstanding goal setting worked as an accelerator throughout  the whole supply chain  for being inventive and a search for next generation of building improvements.

Innovative technologies, processes and strategies adopted to overcome these challenges and provide value to the development and project team:

Benefits of BREEAM

Prologis started this project as a speculative build with a high sustainability ambition given our long term ownership of developments. During construction XPO was pitching for a logistics contract and the high BREEAM rating of our facility supported them in winning this deal. Prologis was in competition with another speculative development and the higher standard of our design was a decisive factor for XPO to choose for our project. This business case proves that you can differentiate by investing in sustainability upfront. In the end this leads to a better product and than it’s not about the lowest pricing but about the ability to run a more profitable operation in the long run with low operational costs and being the ultimate tool to attract and retain labour.

 ‘This building benefits from low energy and maintenance cost, helping us to make our Business case work. Besides costs, the design of the building looks great and attracts talent to work in such a nice environment, very important in these days challenging labour market’.

– Bert van der Sterren, CFO XPO Logistics (Customer and end-user)

The project team is proud of the BREEAM certification at Outstanding level which is fantastic recognition of a team-effort and motivates us to continue our journey of continuous improvement at future projects.

For this particular building the BREEAM certificate will help us to retain and attract tenants in the future.

‘The ambitious goal setting was key in getting all stakeholders in the right direction. As a project team we accepted the challenge and were aware of the difficulties. By consulting the right experts, gaining knowledge and the right mind-set we outperformed on our expectations. A great integration of technology and vision!’

– Jeroen van Beuningen, Project Lead General Contractor Van der Heijden

BREEAM certification offers a bench mark and the rating helps us to differentiate from competition. It serves as a tool for Prologis and our customers to measure, prove and promote their ESG strategy.

As integrated part of our Green Bond initiative the BREEAM certification attracts environmentally conscious investors.

Prologis is using GRESB for ESG benchmarking of its assets. The assessment contains approximately 55 indicators, including energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, water consumption and waste. In the coming years entering the actual project data in GRESB will provide insight by validation and bench marking of the project’s  sustainability performance against the industry standards.

‘Reaching the highest level of sustainability requires a different mindset of all stakeholders. On our journey to reach BREEAM Outstanding we have engaged  the entire project team, local authorities and our customer. With a culture of passion, joy and inspiration all team members where encouraged to go above and beyond the minimum requirements. The result? An outstanding facility, that’s adding value for future generations!

– Martijn Kuijken, Director Project Management Prologis Benelux