NREP unveiled the world’s most sustainable warehouse, a decarbonizing building that achieves net zero without external offsets. The 20,000 square-meter building in Sweden will be the first logistics building in the world to achieve 100% CO2 neutrality over its lifecycle.
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As a result, Triple Zero is the first of three fully CO2 neutral prototypes that aim to lead the way to urgent CO2 reductions called for by COP27. NREP is an urban investor with €18 billion of assets under management, and is attempting to build the world’s first net-zero logistics facility, achieve net zero across operational as well as embodied carbon. This first prototype was built in Balsta, which is 50 kilometers outside Stockholm.
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The second project in this series by NREP will be a residential development. Lastly, the third office retrofit will serve as learning labs to help NREP reach an ambitious target of becoming 100% carbon neutral by 2028 without external offsets.
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Why is this so important? A huge chunk of global CO2 emissions, around 40%, come from the built environment, including factories, malls, offices and homes. Here is how NREP plans to achieve their ambitious goal.
Low carbon materials were used in building a new factory in Stockholm, a first for a logistics property. This creates a 60% reduction in emissions relative to a normal logistics building. The biggest reduction is found in the structure of roof and walls. Meanwhile, traditional steel was replaced with cross-laminated lumber for the roof, walls and façade. A new organic insulation that binds more CO2 than it emits during production was used in the walls. NREP says they believe decarbonization is a superior business approach and hope to show with this prototype what is possible today to inspire other companies to scale up sustainable building solutions and bring down costs.
“The goal of decarbonizing the entire built environment is monumental and something that cannot be achieved alone,” said Victoria Burrows, who is Director of Advancing Net Zero of the World Green Building Council. “We need strong leadership from companies like NREP who are taking urgent and innovative action to explore what solutions are possible today, to get us closer to a carbon neutral future. It’s time to accelerate climate action and NREP’s breakthrough net zero project, which accounts for every kilo of carbon in the build, provides a clear template for others in the industry to work towards.”
Furthermore, the Triple Zero will be used by NREP’s logistics brand Logicenters, a developer and operator of logistics properties in locations across the Nordics. NREP has other pioneering projects to change how business and the built environment operate as it relates to sustainability. Their initiatives include the use of CO2 neutral geothermal heating and the world’s first 100% upcycled concrete building. Additionally, they also have UN17 Village, the first large-scale project to align with all of the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
Images via NREP