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PROPERTY FUNDS WORLD Special Report Nov 2016 www.propertyfundsworld.com | 11
SIEMENS MARKET INSIGHT
connect to Siemens Operation Centre to be
monitored online. For the rest of the portfolio,
we decided we would conduct an annual
assessment of energy consumption. This is
carried out by Wincasa and the data is fed
into the Siemens Navigator platform. ”
“Within a one-year cycle, we are able to
collect data from almost all the buildings that
we have in Switzerland and plan to expand
this process to our international investments,
too,” says Baumann.
He says that over the last four years there
are several examples where the measures
taken have had a tangible impact on the
buildings’ tenants, most notably better
comfort and lower energy bills.
At Siemens’ operation centre, HVAC
systems are continuously monitored, along
with the consumption of oil, gas, electricity
and water. Should measurements deviate
from defined targets, the Siemens expert
team can make the necessary system
adjustments.
Achieving such an ambitious
decarbonisation programme does not
happen overnight. But thanks to the
partnership with Siemens, Credit Suisse Real
Estate Investment Management has four full
years of data on the portfolio (2012 through
2015) with Baumann confirming that, based
on the most recent set of data that Siemens
Baumann, COO and Head of Sustainability
at Credit Suisse Real Estate Investment
Management.
“The second pillar relates to what we do
with new building acquisitions. We developed
our own ratings system for new construction
projects, called the ‘greenproperty’ seal,
which is based around the Swiss Minergie
standard.
“This greenproperty seal is certified
by our external valuation agents and we
apply it to all new building projects that we
acquire. We have over 90 properties that are
greenproperty certified, equivalent to over 1
million square meters and CHF3 billion AuM.”
Setting this strategy in place was the
starting point. Then, in 2012, the World
Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) conducted a
thorough examination of the CO
2 reduction
potential of the portfolio. They concluded that
it would be able to cut the entire portfolio’s
CO
2 emissions by 44% by consistently
applying technical measures. Moreover, the
WWF suggested that monitoring of HVAC
systems would offer the greatest potential.
“Optimising buildings is the fastest way
to embark upon a decarbonisation path. We
began looking for a partner to create an
optimisation programme for our buildings
in Switzerland; one who could measure
and control energy efficiency. We selected
Siemens and Wincasa (a real estate service
provider) and embarked upon a five-year
programme.
“The main target we set was to reduce
CO
2 emissions by at least 10%, equivalent
to 13,000 tons of carbon dioxide. Other
goals we set were firstly, to increase
transparency in the portfolio with more
energy and carbon data. Secondly, to track
the carbon goals we set. And thirdly, to use
the data for benchmarking and reporting,”
explains Baumann.
Given that Credit Suisse Real Estate
Investment Management’s portfolio contains
a huge variety of building stock, the idea
was to monitor online the largest buildings
in the portfolio responsible for 45 to 50%
of total energy consumption. In addition,
one can achieve the biggest savings in
large buildings as part of an optimisation
programme.
“We therefore structured the portfolio
such that the 100 largest buildings would
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