Photo: CTP SrbijaAs a leader in the construction and leasing of business and industrial parks in Central and Eastern Europe, with a portfolio that includes almost 11 million square meters of A-class buildings in ten countries from the Baltic to the Black Sea, the Dutch company CTP, which has been operating in Serbia for six years, takes the impact of its activities on the environment very seriously. With the aim of being an industry leader in the transition to a carbon-neutral economy and achieving a positive impact on the communities in which it operates, CTP applies the most modern materials and technology to build and manage highly efficient facilities with the smallest possible environmental footprint and to ensure their sustainability over time.
Taking the responsibility to improve the sustainability of its operations and and achieve more carbon dioxide removed by CTforest than emitted from company operations, CTP has invested in new technologies in the past few years to meet the target and obtain a green BREEAM certificate for all new buildings in its portfolio. This was achieved in 2021, when almost 300 CTP buildings at 100 locations in six countries were BREEAM certified. With this decision and its implementation, CTP is not only the first European company for industrial and office real estate to take the initiative and commitment to have its entire portfolio BREEAM certified, but after the certification, it became the greenest company for the development of industrial real estate in Europe.
CTP in Serbia has 13 finished buildings in its portfolio, in five different locations, with a total area of more than 285,000 square meters, and all buildings have the BREEAM green building and energy efficiency certificate. CTP’s local presence is not solely the provision of space for workplace creation. The company conducts multiple activities related to infrastructure development as well as community support.
CTP's commitment to sustainable development includes ISO certification for environmental and energy management systems for their entire portfolio. Currently, all CTP facilities in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Romania have ISO 14001 (Environmental Management) and ISO 50001 (Energy Management) certificates, and the plan is to finalize ISO certification in all countries where CTP operates, including Serbia.
In addition to the development of smart buildings in order to save energy and money and the development of the "circular parks" concept, according to the circular economy standards, with the aim of achieving zero waste, CTP, as part of its comprehensive sustainability initiative, is working hard to develop a solar strategy in order to lower operating costs for its tenants while providing them with a source of renewable energy for their own sustainability goals. CTP has already announced that it will start installing solar panels on all its facilities in Serbia this year. Given the planned square footage of the facilities, when all the solar panels are installed, CTP will be one of the largest producers of green energy in Serbia.
A key pillar of CTP's carbon neutrality strategy is the purchase and maintenance of natural forests in the countries where it operates. To this end, CTP intend to own forests to take care and improve its biodiversity and make it available to people. As a first step, in October 2019, CTP bought its first forest reserve, Mladá Boleslav, in the Czech Republic. The entire 100-hectare forest will be preserved in its natural state and managed by expert staff to encourage biodiversity. CTP continues to seek out other old-growth forests.
Petar Kolognat, director of business development at CTP Serbia
SOLAR PANELS ON 10 FACILITIES IN SERBIA BY THE END OF THE YEAR
Since it has been operating in Serbia since 2017, CTP has acquired two and built eleven facilities, where today big names from various sectors operate. Currently, the construction of more than 230,000 m2 in five different locations is underway, which will bring the total portfolio of the CTP company in Serbia to over half a million square meters. All new buildings will have BREEAM certification, including the future largest logistics center in Serbia, CTPark Belgrade City, whose construction should be completed by the end of the year, announced Petar Kolognat, director of business development at CTP Serbia.
"The construction of all buildings is progressing excellently, according to the plan and the defined timeline. When it comes to new locations, I would especially like to point out CTPark Novi Sad East, which will finally offer clients in that city an A-class logistics facility. We are also looking forward to the development of CTPark Jagodina, where we have acquired about 24 ha of land right next to the highway, just 2 km from the city center. "We expect the start of the construction of the first building of 36,000 m2 already in October of this year," says Kolognat.
In addition to the construction of new buildings, CTP will also start installing solar panels on its buildings this year.
"We plan to cover the roofs of the first 10 buildings in Serbia with solar panels by the end of the year and to deliver at least 20 MWp to the system. After that, every building that will be built in a year will have a solar power plant on the roof. It is expected that we will receive the permits during the summer and that we will start installing the solar panels at the beginning of autumn. The plan is to work on 3–4 locations at the same time," said Kolognat at the recently held REBEC conference.
Text: Jovana Nikolić
Photo: CTP
