The opportunity
Due to the current climate crisis and the sense of urgency to diminish their impact on the environment, governments, consumers, and companies are looking for ways to decrease their carbon footprint. This includes logistics (real estate), which provides an opportunity to realize a significant CO2-reduction within the value chain. Prologis noticed the demand in low-carbon logistics and facilitated with the design and construction of Prologis Park Eindhoven DC4: a new generation of warehouses, offering a whole lot more than four walls and a roof. With this property Prologis aimed to realize a warehouse without local emissions, with net zero carbon output and with a people centric design. To get a credible third-party sustainability assessment, Prologis registered Eindhoven DC4 for the Zero Carbon Certification from The International Living Future Institute (ILFI). ILFI assesses projects and building on their carbon emission impacts throughout their lifecycle.
The challenges
Building the warehouse with these ambitious objectives proved to be rather challenging. First of all, since Prologis Park Eindhoven DC4 is built on a so called brownfield: land that was abandoned due to pollution. In this particular case, the land was a former domestic waste dump, with complex soil conditions and challenging environmental aspects due to contamination. Other challenges include a lack of water retention and a new building design without gas connection. The latter means stepping away from proven techniques and exploring new concepts. Lastly, finding low- to zero-carbon building materials proved to be challenging as well.
The solutions
To make sure the polluted land could be reused, certain measures were taken such as soil remediation, a gas drainage system under the building and a special concrete foundation to withstand the aggressive toxic subsoil. To ensure sufficient load bearing capacity in the new warehouse and avoid settlement of the flat and jointless floor, 15,000 high speed piles were installed. During the building process, 10% less materials, low-emission and CSC certified concrete from Betonhuis, low-emission roof insulation from Kingspan, and suppliers literally close to the building site were used. This resulted in a 30% reduction of the total embodied carbon of the primary materials.
To further offset the embodied carbon during the building’s lifecycle and support lowering the emissions in the building’s operations, Prologis integrated solar panels. This solar system will generate more electricity than the entire facility consumes, making external offsets redundant. The total generated power equals that of approximately 700 households, making the warehouse not only a place for storage, but also a renewable energy plant. This data was tested and confirmed during one year of operations.
To provide a structured and systemic approach for this complex building project, Prologis worked with the BREEAM methodology. Due to putting environment and people first, the warehouse was also awarded a BREEAM Outstanding and WELL Gold certificate. And what about the Zero Carbon Certification? Prologis Park Eindhoven DC4 was rewarded with a Zero Carbon Certification and is the first logistics building worldwide receiving this prestigious title.
Learnings
A new bar has now been set for Prologis and the industry when it comes to sustainable buildings; buildings that are truly net zero. Although this project was challenging and ambitious, it showcased various innovative technologies to improve sustainability. Challenges like these fit perfectly in the bold environmental goals that Prologis has set for itself. With this project, Prologis hopes to inspire others to invest in a sustainable future.