International law firm CMS, which last year relocated its Warsaw headquarters to Varso Tower, has achieved the BREEAM certificate at the "Excellent" level. This is the first BREEAM International Refurbishment and Fitout 2015: Office certificate awarded to a law firm in Poland, and the third certificate awarded to an office space in Poland at the level of "Excellent". The certification process was managed by the ESG & Sustainability Transformations team at JLL.
BREEAM is Europe's leading real estate certification system verifying the environmental sustainability of offices, which for more than 30 years has been setting the best environmentally friendly practices for investment development. The vast majority of certificates issued to date are for entire buildings, but it is the certification of interiors (known as fit-out), which is the most relevant from the user's perspective, which is becoming increasingly important.
The certification conducted at the CMS office in Warsaw included verification of the adoption of sustainable management practices during the design, construction, fit-out and commissioning of the office; the selection of environmentally friendly materials, equipment and facilities; the provision of comfort, health-promoting solutions and safety for office users; and oversight of waste disposal, recycling and reduction during construction and operation of the office. Issues related to the management of logistics and supply chains during fit-out works, sustainable management of water consumption, as well as access to sustainable means of transportation for building users, were also checked.
After successfully passing the certification process, CMS’s office has joined the ranks of only 14 offices in Poland that have received the BREEAM International Refurbishment and Fitout 2015: Office. Varso Tower, developed by HB Reavis, is BREEAM Interim certified.
Beata Kępowicz, COO at CMS Poland, said, "Obtaining the BREEAM certification is a huge success for us and confirmation that we have achieved our goals for the new office. We are well aware of climate change and its challenges. On a daily basis, we advise our clients on the implementation of ESG issues in their organisations. Sustainability issues were also fundamental for us in the creation of the new space, as we know how important it is to be attentive to the decisions we make every day when creating and using our offices. At each stage, we made every effort to implement the most sustainable solutions, selected the right contractors and suppliers, and used good quality materials. The design and implementation of the office is one thing, but certification was also an operational challenge for us. It would not have been possible to achieve this goal without the support of JLL, Trzop Architects, HB Reavis, Tetris and many other subcontractors."
Łukasz Grzywacz, Director of JLL's ESG & Sustainability Transformations Team, said, “Certification of spaces (building interiors) is becoming increasingly popular as a consequence of a better understanding of the importance of environmental and social issues. It is worth remembering that many of the solutions used result in a reduction in utility consumption, and this consequently reduces both environmental impact and operating costs. But even the best solutions make sense only if they are understood and, above all, properly used.
I am delighted that the ESG & Sustainability Transformations team had the opportunity to support CMS in this project. A word of appreciation to CMS for choosing the ESG-compliant path, and in this particular case BREEAM certification, which is all the more satisfying given the final result. Congratulations to all those who were involved in the certification process and the current and future users of the office. I strongly believe that this fantastic project will be an inspiration for other offices in Poland.”
BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method) is a multi-criteria building certification system that was introduced in 1990 in the UK by BRE Global. Today, it is present in 77 countries and is one of the most widely used systems in Poland. Nine categories are considered in the certification process: management, health and well-being, energy, transportation, water, materials, waste, land use and ecology, pollution and innovation.
