Commercial real estate developer CTP will modernise the successful Spielberk office complex near the Brno city centre. The aim is to lower energy consumption and ultimately reduce the carbon footprint of the site. CTP is investing almost CZK 40 million crowns in modernising the energy system.

As part of the upgrade, CTP will replace the current lighting sources at the site with LED lighting, produce energy from photovoltaic panels, and install an energy management system. It will also replace cooling units and air conditioning, thus saving over 955. MWh of energy per year, reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 872.97 tonnes annually. “We want to be the leader in the switch to an operational carbon-neutral economy. And in Brno we already are. Not only are we constructing and reconstructing buildings to make them environmentally friendly, but we are also encouraging their users to act in an environmentally friendly way. Our goal is to positively impact the community in which we operate,” said Jiří Kostečka, who is responsible for developing CTP activities in Brno.

An office complex with no mixed municipal waste

The modernisation and energy reduction project at Spielberk is part of CTP’s long-term strategy for transforming the office complex—which houses 10 buildings and 4,000 people—into a zone where no waste goes unsorted. An analysis carried out last year by the Institute for Circular Economy shows that proper sorting could immediately reduce the amount of waste generated from 302 tonnes to just 55 tonnes per year. “Having bins at their desks at work does not motivate people to sort their waste. It is easier for them to throw everything in the waste baskets under their desks than to get up and take the rubbish to the corridor and sort it. If you want to make people act responsibly, you must create the conditions for them to do so,” Kostečka explained. The developer and operator of Spielberk is now in negotiations with tenants on further steps leading to reduced waste generation, without inconveniencing users of the properties. If the zero unsorted waste strategy at Spielberk proves successful, the developer also plans to gradually extend it to its industrial parks.

CTP Invest takes the environmental impact of its activities very seriously. It aims to reach operational carbon neutrality by 2023. The company is modernising properties that it has already built and constructing high-quality new ones. All of them are gradually being certified according to BREEAM or WELL standards. CTP is also developing several other activities focused on sustainable management. The company has invested in purchasing and planting one million square metres of forest near Mladá Boleslav. CTP’s plan is to plant 1m2 of forest for every square metre of built-up area. In the near future, CTP intends to install rooftop photovoltaic power stations at its logistics parks, with the goal to generate over 20 MWp. In a more distant future, the ambition stands at 250 MWp.