The certification was developed under the leadership of Bureau Veritas Solutions – the globally recognized leader in testing, inspection and certification (TIC) services – and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) France. Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, operator and owner of Westfield Shopping City South, has introduced this standard to assess the sustainability measures and social initiatives of its shopping centers. The certification is based on industry-standard assessments such as BREEAM In-Use and energy performance indicators and covers eight additional environmental and social categories: Water Consumption, Biodiversity, Energy and Climate, Waste Management, Mobility, Health, Safety and Comfort, Sustainable Consumption and Local Projects and Initiatives.
In order to achieve its ambitious sustainability targets, Westfield Shopping City Süd has successfully implemented a large number of projects and launched new projects in recent years. More than 7.5 million euros have been invested in photovoltaics alone.
“Westfield Shopping City Süd is one of the Group’s top assets and an innovative leader in many areas. The center is known far beyond Austria’s borders as an industry pioneer, particularly when it comes to sustainability. The next milestone has now been reached with the certification and the next important sustainability projects in the area of mobility are already being planned,” says Paul Douay, Managing Director Asset Management Central Europe at Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield.
“The award of the Better Places certificate is another milestone in the sustainability strategy of Westfield Shopping City Süd. We are delighted to once again play a pioneering role in the sector in terms of sustainability. This is also the result of the excellent work of our teams, who have implemented outstanding projects in the areas of photovoltaics and energy and water consumption management in the past,” says Zsolt Juhasz, General Manager Westfield Shopping City Süd.
As part of the award ceremony, Westfield Shopping City Süd invited representatives from politics, business, science and administration to the Westfield SCS Multiplex for an exchange of ideas. Among others, guest of honour Johanna Mikl-Leitner, Governor of Lower Austria, emphasized the supra-regional importance of Westfield Shopping City Süd for Lower Austria as a business location: “Sustainability, environmental protection and successful business are not a contradiction, but go hand in hand here in Lower Austria, as the SCS demonstrates in an exemplary manner.”
