Dec 13 2017
The Zeppelin shopping centre located in Kempele has been awarded the BREEAM In-Use Very Good certification. The certification applies to the property's technical attributes and maintenance.
"Zeppelin is a traditional retail location which is constantly being developed when new services are added to the shopping centre's selection. We always try to ensure that our development efforts are energy efficient and environmentally friendly. The stores in Zeppelin also take environmental issues into account in their day-to-day operations. The stores do this by sorting their waste thoroughly and by participating in the recycling event organised twice a year," says Veli-Pekka Mäkinen Zeppelin's Shopping Centre Manager.
Zeppelin is the largest shopping centre in northern Finland. The shopping centre is located in Kempele, ten minutes south of the Oulu city centre. Completed in 1992, Zeppelin is the busy heart of services on the south side of Oulu. The shopping centre's most recent expansion was completed in 2011. The Zeppelin has around 3.5 million visitors annually.
Green Building Partners was responsible for the guidance and auditing related to Zeppelin's BREEAM certification. Sponda's guidelines dictate that the international LEED® or BREEAM® environmental certification will be applied for all new buildings and significant renovations. In addition, the In-Use environmental certification will be applied for each year. Currently, Sponda had 16 properties with environmental certification and several certification projects in progress.
"Here, at Sponda, we invest in environmental certification because we believe it is important that our daily efforts to reduce the environmental impact of our buildings can be verified by a third party. At Zeppelin, we have implemented more environmentally friendly building technology and water-saving plumbing fixtures, for example. Sponda has several certification projects in progress that aim to improve the energy efficiency of our buildings in a concrete, transparent and open manner as well as to make it easier to communicate this to our customers and partners," says Hannamari Koivula, Sustainability Manager at Sponda.