Green Forum • 23 February, 2023 at 1:42 PM
Beginning in 2023, real estate asset manager GTC Hungary will use 100 percent green electricity in all its commercial properties as an important step in its energy management and sustainability strategy. Currently, the developer purchases 40 GWh of energy annually from renewable sources and renewable solutions. GTC is also upgrading the energy efficiency of its domestic buildings, which is projected to reduce the company's energy consumption by 20% by 2025.
Energy efficiency and environmental impact reduction are now the top priorities for all property developers and tenants, and the need to use as much renewable energy as possible is gaining importance in the context of efficiency requirements. Recognizing this need, GTC Hungary, one of the leading players in the Hungarian commercial real estate market, will provide tenants in all its properties with energy exclusively from renewable sources from the beginning of 2023, thanks to an agreement with MVM Next Energiakereskedelmi Zrt.
As a result of the agreement, the ZÖLD100 certificate has been awarded to all GTC Hungary properties, validating their commitment to using only renewable energy sources.
In the interest of sustainable energy management, GTC also contributes to environmentally friendly power generation by installing its own solar panels on the roofs of office buildings to generate up to 10 percent of a property's required electricity.
When announcing the news, János Gárdai, Regional Operational Director of GTC Group, said, that while green energy was already available for tenants with above-average energy consumption, with this year's change, GTC Hungary will cover around 40 GWh of electricity demand per year from clean sources for the entire portfolio.
"The transition to green energy is another significant step towards sustainable, cost-effective, and predictable operations and management. With this and the extensive energy modernization of our buildings, we are sending a clear message to our tenants: we are planning for the long term, and they can also plan with us for the long term," said János Gárdai.
With increased investments in energy efficiency this year, GTC anticipates portfolio-level energy savings of 20 percent. As the Duna Tower office building has already achieved such a reduction in energy consumption in 2019, it is a realistic target for all properties to reduce energy consumption by one-fifth by 2025.
This will primarily be achieved by upgrading cooling and heating systems, modernizing lifts, installing heat pumps, and implementing intelligent lighting and building control systems. This not only reduces operating expenses for tenants but also compensates for the marginally higher purchase price of the anticipated green energy consumption.