Vesteda provides nearly 27.500 homes with BREEAM sustainability label in one go

Vesteda had almost its entire housing portfolio of 27.500 homes certified by CFP Green Buildings in one batch. It is the world’s largest housing certification carried out all at once. This also immediately created the largest BREEAM-certified real estate portfolio in the world. This certification is therefore not only an important milestone for Vesteda and CFP Green Buildings, but also for BREEAM-NL.

Stephan de Bie, Sustainability programme manager at Vesteda: ‘We worked hard with our partners to certify our entire portfolio in one go based on the new BREEAM-NL In-Use Housing guideline. And we are very pleased with the result. The BREEAM-NL certificates give us a better understanding of the sustainability performance of our complexes, not only as regards energy, but also in areas such as accessibility, use of materials and biodiversity. Incidentally, the BREEAM-NL labels are not our final goal, but the starting point for further improving the sustainability performance of our housing portfolio.’

“We are immensely proud that Vesteda is using BREEAM-NL to make its portfolio more sustainable. To achieve the certification of such a large portfolio within a year is very impressive. The baseline measurement Vesteda has carried out offers a lot of insight and opportunities for further sustainability. We look forward to the follow-up steps.“

– Rudy van der Helm, Development and Management director at DGBC.

Providing evidence 

The large-scale certification, which required a lot of evidence such as construction drawings, floor plans, inspection reports and all types of photos, took place with the support of a BREEAM-NL expert from CFP Green Buildings and BREEAM-NL assessor from Longevity Partners.

Simone Tabor, managing partner consultancy at CFP Green Buildings: ‘Last year, we supported Vesteda in taking the first step to making their housing portfolio more sustainable. For CFP, which has been using its knowledge and experience in sustainability certifications for years, this was a terrific and very special project. Our intensive cooperation with all stakeholders led to the above result. This is an important milestone for Vesteda and for us and at the same time the starting point for further sustainability measures in the 27.500 homes.’

Roger Toussaint, managing director at Longevity Partners BV: ‘BREEAM-NL In-Use Housing was developed to measure and improve the sustainability performance of existing homes. In 2021, Longevity helped develop the assessment guideline and I am proud of the team that delivered over 630 labels in 2022 to map the sustainability of nearly 27,500 homes. It is extraordinary to see how Vesteda is addressing the results of the assessment for further sustainability in the future. This project shows that it is possible to certify large portfolios efficiently and to start working on sustainability.’

Are you interested in obtaining a BREEAM certification or do you have other questions about how to make existing properties more sustainable? Then contact us to discuss the possibilities.