- A former landfill in the south of the Netherlands now a thriving, attractive and green logistics distribution centre.
- The facility produces net CO2 emission of zero—it generates more energy than what it consumes.
- The sustainable energy production will offset the total construction of the warehouse within 10 years.
Eindhoven (19 September, 2023) – Prologis Europe is pleased to announce that Prologis Park Eindhoven DC4 in the Netherlands, completed in 2020, has met and surpassed its net-zero energy goals, securing a Zero Carbon certification from the International Living Future Institute and becoming the world’s first industrial building to receive this certification. ILFL’s Zero Carbon certification means the Eindhoven DC4 warehouse used lower-carbon building materials and was verified after a 12-month performance period to be energy efficient, natural gas free, and powered by renewables.
By using solar systems to generate electricity, integrating sustainable building materials, and reducing the amount of building materials needed, the development of the warehouse and its operations have zero carbon emissions. The warehouse, which is built on a former domestic waste dump, also received BREEAM ‘Outstanding’ and WELL ‘Gold’ certificates. The high sustainability of Prologis Park Eindhoven DC4 allows GXO, its current customer, to accelerate their own sustainability targets.
Solar energy production negates need for external offsets
With the aim to create the most sustainable warehouse possible, Prologis Park Eindhoven DC4 was designed as a property without local emissions, with a net-zero carbon output by generating more energy than its own energy consumption, and with a people-centric design to make it a healthy and pleasant working space. Specifically, the electricity that this all-electric warehouse’s solar system produces compensates for more than the carbon emission footprint of the development project. This energy data was tested and confirmed during one year of operations.
“Eindhoven DC4, is a strong example of owners, business leaders, architects, engineers, builders, and other stakeholders working to create a building that is a pathway to a regenerative future for all. We’re happy to have awarded Prologis with a Zero Carbon Certification, and we hope this inspires many others to follow their lead.” Lindsay Baker, CEO, ILFI.
Carbon reduction during construction
The carbon footprint of the foundation’s building materials has been reduced heavily. This reduction has been achieved by choosing more responsibly produced materials such as sustainable concrete via a CSC certified supplier and cradle-to-cradle sandwich wall panels. Moreover, carbon emissions were reduced by selecting local suppliers that were literally close to the construction site. The sustainable energy production will offset the total construction of the warehouse within 10 years.
“Our commitment to the environment impacts everything we do. As such, we promote sustainability in our operations and corporate infrastructure, because it’s the right thing to do for our planet. We are immensely proud to partner with Prologis, and to be in the very first logistics facility worldwide that has a Zero Carbon Certificate. This fits perfectly with the bold environmental targets that we have set,” Meagan Fitzsimmons, Chief Compliance and ESG Officer at GXO.
BREEAM ‘Outstanding’ and WELL ‘Gold’
Prologis Park Eindhoven DC4 received a BREEAM ‘Outstanding’ certificate, further underlining the sustainable construction and design of the warehouse. The warehouse is set in an ecological environment with nature-inclusive landscaping, stimulating biodiversity with insect hotels, bird houses, and native plants. Consequently, Eindhoven DC4 was nominated for the BREEAM awards in 2021. With its people-centric design, Prologis Park Eindhoven DC4 also received a WELL ‘Gold’ certification.
“We’re proud to be the first in logistics real estate to receive a Zero Carbon Certificate from ILFI. Being awarded with this certificate allows us to take a great step forward in our global ESG ambitions to achieve net-zero emissions across our operations by 2023 and across our value chain by 2040. Although it was a challenging project due to the new innovations we had to apply to improve the sustainability and the challenging environmental aspects due to soil contamination, Prologis Park Eindhoven DC4 can now serve as inspiration for the new standard of warehousing facilities,” states Martijn Kuijken, Head of Development Management Benelux at Prologis Europe.
If you have any questions about the press release above or about the Zero Carbon Certificate, please do not hesitate to contact us.
