The background
Bouwinvest Real Estate Investors wants to work with circularity because, from the company’s perspective, this contributes to the value development of its real estate in the long term. Bouwinvest recently purchased Villa Verde, a circularly developed transformation project. This function-free building will initially be used as a residential care complex. Copper8 is helping establish the circular business case to gain insight into the potential added value of circularity in relation to financial performance.
Context
Bouwinvest is one of the largest real estate investors in the Netherlands. In 2019 the company purchased Villa Verde – originally three 1990s office buildings, they have been redeveloped into one function-free building. The adaptability of the building makes it an interesting investment, because, for example, there are lower risks of vacancy and loss of rent. Because this is a transformation, many components of the buildings have been reused, which also brings sustainability benefits.
The question
Support us in calculating a circular business case for Villa Verde, in which the circular performance is mapped out. Compare the current transformation with a scenario of complete demolition and traditional new construction.
Current situation and future
The results of the analysis provide Bouwinvest with an initial report of the circular performance of a building, so they must be easy to understand and share more widely. For this reason, we are following the methodology for calculating environmental costs that is commonly used in the construction sector.
The process
To arrive at the circular business case, we calculated the environmental costs of the realization carried out and compared these with the environmental impact of the alternative scenarios. We discussed the results with those involved from both Bouwinvest and the developing party. Based on the results, we offered Bouwinvest tools to apply this approach to gain insight more broadly in the organization.
The results
A report that provides insight into the total environmental costs of Villa Verde: the circular transformation has led to a 19% lower environmental impact. The preservation of the concrete floors and the releasability of installations yielded the greatest benefits. The conclusions from Villa Verde’s calculation provide a basis for Bouwinvest’s focus on circularity, which involves management at building level (to reduce environmental impact), future projects (to make choices) and portfolio level (from reporting).
