Munich, February 4, 2010. The high-rise of the Sueddeutscher Verlag in Munich is the first office building in Germany to be awarded an LEED certificate in gold. The headquarters of the Sueddeutsche Zeitung publishing house built in a sustainable manner delivered particularly compelling results in the field of energy and water efficiency thanks to its consistently designed air-conditioning and energy concept.
Almost 40 percent of global primary energy demand is accounted for by the construction and operation of buildings. During times of ever scarcer resources,the topic of sustainability is becoming increasingly important. LEED (“Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design”) is a certificate awarded by the U.S. Green Building Council and is acknowledged to be the most successful classification system across the globe for sustained buildings, a system that is also becoming increasingly significant in Germany.
For the investor and tenant of the high-rise Sueddeutscher Verlag, the economic benefits of the property constructed according to sustainability standards were of decisive importance. The sparing use of resources attested by the LEED certification and substantially reduced primary energy requirements ensure improved asset quality. At the same time, this enhances the attractiveness and marketability of this premium property, which also benefits from lower life-cycle costs. In building the high-rise, the architect Oliver Kühn from GKK+Architekten (Berlin), the planners from WSP CBP Consulting Engineers (Munich) and the general contractor FOM Real Estate GmbH (Heidelberg) and LBBW Immobilien GmbH (Stuttgart) also delivered impressive evidence of their extensive Green Building expertise.
Bonus points for “exemplary performance”
The headquarters of the Süddeutsche Zeitung publishing house commissioned 14 months ago scored a total of 42 points in the six main certification categories of sustainable location, water efficiency, energy, materials and resources,interior qualities as well as innova-tion and planning processes. To qualify for Gold status, 39 points are required. The building excels in particular in terms of innovation, energy and water efficiency – in all three categories, not only did this building score the maximum number of points but was also awarded “exemplary performance” bonus points.
Using soil as a battery
A unique interaction to date between geothermal systems and the use of surplus thermal energy by shifting heat between the building and soil on which it stands ensures virtually CO2-neutral basic air-conditioning in summer and winter alike. Sensors in the rooms regulate both the temperature and lighting. Thanks to a sophisticated building concept, not only are the special requirements
of a publishing house taken into account; attention is focused on each
individual employee and his or her personal needs. Sensors measure the natural influx of light and, by means of optimized additional artificial light sources, they ensure ideal light-ing conditions in the workplace and minimized energy consumption in the process. The re-sulting energy savings overall, of up to 80
percent, are very impressive and plain to see, in every sense of the word. Certification in accordance with the LEED standard was applied for jointly with the project partners Süddeutscher Verlag GmbH, GKK+ Architekten, FOM Real Estate GmbH, LBBW Immobilien GmbH, WSP CBP Consulting Engineers AG (which managed the certification process and cooperated with the construction of the newbuild as a general planning unit) as well as the owner of Prime Office AG
LEED
LEED certification (LEED stands for Leadership in energy and Environmental Design) is a product of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), a North American non-profit organization. It is based on a rating system which confirms that sustainability criteria have been observed in the construction of buildings. Both uniform standards and an appeal to property owners and tenants are necessary to facilitate a breakthrough of the ecological aspects on a broad scale.
www.usgbc.org
Süddeutscher Verlag
The publishing house Süddeutscher Verlag is one of the leading German media
enterprises. The unit had its ori-gins in a company founded in 1945 trading as “Verlag der Süddeutschen Zeitung” at the time and is engaged in numerous fields of activity today. In addition to newspapers (Süddeutsche Zeitung, Regionalzeitungsgruppe Hof/Coburg/Suhl), the media group also extends to include specialist information services (magazine and book publishers), printshops and electronic media (Internet, TV and radio). The Süddeutscher Verlag publishing house employs a workforce of nearly 4,000 persons.
www.sueddeutscher-verlag.de
WSP CBP Consulting Engineers
WSP CBP is one of the leading engineering firms engaged in modern high-rise construction and civil engineering with a volume of services in the Germanspeaking region that has constantly grown for over 50 years now. The company has exactly the right contact persons for construction projects of every type and scale – in high-rise construction and in modern engineering, in planning specific works and as general planners. Its activities range from construction controlling all the way through to comprehensive project management, from the first idea through to relationship management during the user phase – including construction projects in foreign locations. As a member company of the globally expanding WSP Group, WSP CBP also provides multi-disciplinary solu-tions for international large-scale projects as well as the expertise of a total of more than 10,000 employees. In connection with Green Building, as a system house WSP CBP provides consultancy services on sustainability in general, sustainability planning, sustainability management as well as sustainability certification according to LEED and the German certification system of Deutsche Gesellschaft für nachhaltiges Bauen (DGNB). WSP CBP is a member of the U.S. Green Building Council and a founding member of Deutsche Gesellschaft für nachhaltiges Bauen.
www.wspgroup.com
GKK+Architekten
With their innovative, award-winning building concepts, GKK+Architekten are among the most interesting repre-sentatives of a completely new and unbiased form of architecture. The firm of architects meanwhile handles projects in territories ranging from Germany to France, and from the Emirates all the
way to China. Their forward-looking and efficient buildings fit into their urban surroundings like magic, radiating precision and openness as well as beauty as regards their form and materials used. The firm’s internationally acknowledged projects include high-rises, administrative buildings, aviation-related and railway station buildings as well as exhibition, museum and opera buildings.
www.oliver-kuehn.com
FOM Real Estate GmbH
Owner-managed FOM Real Estate GmbH, based in Heidelberg, Frankfurt and
Munich, is one of the most renowned real estate service providers and developers in Germany. The core fields of expertise of FOM Real Estate GmbH are the development, lease and management of commercial, residential and mixeduse
properties for its own portfolio and for investors. FOM Real Estate GmbH cooperates on a regular basis with domestic and for-eign partners.
www.fom-hd.de
LBBW Immobilien GmbH
LBBW Immobilien GmbH, Stuttgart, is one of the major real estate firms in Germany – and one of the few that can provide expertise and services across the entire life cycle of a property. As an enterprise with substantial capital resources,and being integrated into the finance group of its main shareholder, Landesbank Baden-Württemberg (LBBW), LBBW Immobilien has an outstanding credit status and general acceptance level as a reliable business partner.
www.lbbw-immobilien.de
Prime Office AG
Prime Office AG, Munich, is a real estate company that specializes in investments
in top-quality office real estate in Germany and in operating and managing such properties. The company has achieved pre-REIT status and plans to qualify in accordance with the regulations of the German REITs Act. The portfolio of the company includes office buildings in central locations in
west German cities and conurbations with a total usable area of 450,000m².The properties in question are top-quality office and administration build-ings which, to a marginal extent, also include other forms of use.
www.prime-office.de
Contact
WSP CBP Services GmbH
Sonja Prinz
Georg-Muche-Straße 1
80807 München
Tel. +49 (0) 89 28633-247
Fax +49 (0) 89 28633-380
sonja.prinz@wspcbp.de