Potsdamer Platz in Berlin has become one of the first city quarters to be awarded the DGNB Certificate of the German Sustainable Building Council (DGNB). The quarter, part of SEB Asset Management's portfolio, received the certificate for sustainable city quarters in silver at Expo Real 2011 in Munich.
The quarter completed already in 1998 met the same criteria for sustainability that new quarters are subject to today. As a result, Potsdamer Platz was assessed according to the 'New construction mixed quarters, version 2011' profile. It involves a wide range of sustainability criteria.
Besides ecological aspects such as drainage and soil protection and an infrastructure requiring a minimum of resources, these include sociocultural criteria such as the quality and appeal of public spaces and noise abatement. The economic situation was also investigated for example aspects of lifecycle costs, space efficiency and the quarter's value stability.
In planning Potsdamer Platz, the focus was entirely on non-harmful and environmentally sound building materials and on keeping energy consumption and toxic emissions down to a minimum.
There is a wide range of measures to ensure environmentally friendly supply and the sparing use of water and soil. These include the best possible use of rainwater, for example in watering outdoor plots and flushing toilets in some buildings. Energy-hungry air conditioning units were not fitted, instead a natural room climate is produced with the help of windows and a clear ventilation and façade system. Everything is delivered and disposed of entirely underground, while a dehydrogenation plant for wet refuse has reduced rubbish collections considerably.
Planning of the Potsdamer Platz already began around 20 years ago. A supporting sustainability concept was developed and implemented both in building the quarter and operating the buildings.
"Potsdamer Platz is a pioneer among sustainable quarters," says Barbara Knoflach, CEO of SEB Asset Management. "Like scarcely another quarter in Europe, it combines modernity, city culture, functionality and sustainability."
The Potsdamer Platz quarter comprises 19 buildings, 10 streets and two squares. The total of 550,000 m² gross floor area is divided into many usage types including offices, agencies, retail space, homes, hotels, entertainment venues and restaurants. The quarter receives up to 100,000 visitors every day.
Source: SEB Asset Management
