October 10, 2024 | Rachel Foppen
This past summer, Logicor began redeveloping a distribution centre in Roosendaal. During this redevelopment, the foundation and floors of the old distribution centre on-site were crushed for reuse as the base for the new foundation. "Simply demolishing and disposing of an old building is no longer an option these days," says Alexander van Gastel, Director of Logicor Netherlands and Belgium.
Sustainability takes centre stage in the redevelopment of the new distribution centre, which will expand from 15,000 square meters to more than 25,000 square meters. The building will receive a BREEAM Excellent certification and an A++++ energy label. Completion is scheduled for the first quarter of 2025. "We want to stand out by being progressive in sustainability," says Van Gastel. "So, besides the BREEAM Excellent certification, we looked at what more we could do to make the building as sustainable as possible. When you tear down a building and generate so much debris, it makes sense to see what you can reuse. Reusing locally as much as possible and reducing the number of transport movements, thereby lowering CO2 emissions, was a decisive factor."
Van Gastel aims for the buildings in Logicor’s portfolio to add value to the environment and the market. “We want to deliver high-quality buildings and are willing to make serious investments to achieve that. Of course, we don’t have a blank check for construction, but we carefully consider how we can use our budgets most efficiently, with a strong focus on quality and sustainability.”
Grid Congestion
One of the challenges in the current market is grid congestion. The available electrical connection is too limited for the intended use, driven by the shift to green energy and the phasing out of gas. Additionally, the tenant places a high priority on sustainability and wants options for, for instance, charging electric vehicles on-site. Van Gastel: "The solution we've found is installing solar panels in combination with battery storage at the location. The surplus energy from the solar panels can be stored and used when energy isn't available, such as in the evening or at night. This way, we become less dependent on the grid."
Van Gastel notes that a BREEAM Excellent certification is considered standard for a long time already within Logicor. However, implementing battery storage presents several challenges. "More coordination is needed between the network operator, the contractor, and the tenant. Energymanagement have to be arranged differently. It starts with the alignment of transformers and installations in the building. Management systems need to be implemented. When you turn on all the installations in a building simultaneously, it creates a huge peak in energy demand. It’s much more efficient to spread that demand, for example, by distributing the capacity between heat pumps or charging points during the morning start-up.”
Collaborating with other market parties
Van Gastel believes there is a lot of willingness in the sector to work together on solutions, including energy issues. "We have a good relationship with other investors and developers. Our door is always open if they have questions about how we approach things. We try to help each other and share knowledge, even though we compete as well. Every developer faces the same challenges, so it makes sense to help each other rather than reinvent the wheel alone. We really need each other to solve the sustainability challenge."
An Extra Dimension
Van Gastel acknowledges that it’s both challenging and interesting to think about how materials from an old distribution centre can be reused in a new one. "It adds an extra dimension to our work. The old distribution centre in Roosendaal was still functional and was in use until about three-quarters of a year ago, but aesthetically, it was an old building. It didn't add value and even detracted from the environment. Nevertheless, we were able to use it as the basis for the new distribution centre. The new centre will be modern and sustainable, and it will add value to the area—economically, of course, but also aesthetically and in terms of sustainability. Nowadays, tenants not only expect a sustainable building, but it also needs to be representative. People need to enjoy working there. That’s a great challenge for us as a sector. To redevelop brownfield locations, where outdated buildings still stand, into beautiful sustainable buildings. As developers, we need to go all-in on this.”