Sponda Plc                                                Press release 16 March 2018 at 10:00

Sponda's Sustainability Review 2017: Sponda is the energy-efficient forerunner in the property sector

Sponda's Sustainability Review for 2017 has been published. The Sustainability Review covers the financial, social and environmental responsibility aspects of the company's operations in 2017.

"Responsibility is an integral part of our operations, our significant responsibility themes are integrated into our strategy and daily operations. The aim of the Sustainability Review is to offer transparent, comparable and practical information about our responsibility efforts and its management and results to our stakeholders," explains Hannamari Koivula, Sustainability Manager at Sponda.

The sustainability efforts at Sponda continued successfully in 2017. In 2017, Sponda obtained two new international BREEAM® environmental certificates, for the Zeppelin and Citycenter shopping centres. At the end of 2017, Sponda had 16 LEED® or BREEAM® environmental certified properties.

Sponda continues to lead the way in international sustainability assessments in its sector. The company's result in 2017 was the best in Europe within its peer group in the Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB) survey. The company was also selected as a Sector Leader in 2017 to recognise its leadership in sustainable development in its sector. Furthermore, Sponda maintained its excellent leadership-level A- score in the annual CDP Climate report.

"Sustainable development is an integral aspect of Sponda's operations, starting from the design table and covering the entire life cycle of properties. Responsibility means close co-operation with our customers, personnel, contractors and other stakeholders. The international recognition of our responsibility efforts indicates that we are doing the right things with a genuine impact on the environment and society," says Koivula with satisfaction.

Real results from the Energy Efficiency Programme

Sponda's own energy efficiency programme progressed well in 2017. The comparable energy consumption of the properties and the carbon footprint continued to decrease according to the targets and both decreased by two per cent from the previous year. The waste recycling rate of properties rose to 47 per cent in 2017. At Sponda's properties, waste is recovered at a rate of 100 per cent.

In addition to its own energy efficiency programme, Sponda has made a commitment to the Property and Building Sector Energy Efficiency Agreement 2017-2025 implemented by the Finnish Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, the Finnish Ministry of the Environment and the Finnish Energy Authority.

In its reporting, Sponda adheres to the Core guidelines of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Sustainability Reporting Standards 2016. Furthermore, the GRI's sector-specific Construction and Real Estate recommendations (Construction and Real Estate Sector Disclosures) have also been applied in reporting. The Sustainability Review 2017 has been published on our website https://www.sponda.fi/en/sponda-company/responsibility-0 and it is also attached to this release.

Sponda Plc


More information: Hannamari Koivula, Sustainability Manager, tel. +358 40 581 9921

Sponda Plc is a property investment company specialising in commercial properties in Finland's largest cities. Sponda's business concept is to own, lease and develop retail and office properties and shopping centres into environments that promote the business success of its clients. The fair value of Sponda's investment properties is approximately EUR 3.9 billion, with a total leasable area of around 1.2 million m2.