BUWOG Group reduces CO2 emissions

- Most important measures are conversion to renewable energy sources,   thermal rehabilitation and highest standards of efficiency in new residential buildings

- Environmental protection measures also pay off for tenants

- BUWOG is one of the six partners of the klima:aktiv pact 2020

Vienna, 30 August 2012 - BUWOG Group, Austria's leading residential company and a wholly owned subsidiary of the IMMOFINANZ Group, will make environmental protection and the reduction of emissions a key issue of its business activities in the coming years. The particular aim is to reduce CO₂ emissions by 13,000 tonnes per year. Thus BUWOG will be able to ensure its pioneering role as an ecologically responsible residential building company for the long term.

This extensive reduction of emissions will be made possible by the combination of various measures in the management of existing properties and construction of new housing. With existing properties the reductions will be achieved primarily by converting residential complexes' existing electric, gas and oil supplies to modern, energy-efficient district or local heating systems as well as by thermal rehabilitation (facades, attics, cellar ceilings). In residential construction only low-energy housing or even more energy-efficient passive houses will be built. The aim is the subsidised refurbishment of around 600 residential units to a low energy standard and the construction of 500 new residential units per year. The plan is for 100 percent of the subsidised new housing projects to comply with the klima:aktiv building standard.

BUWOG is thus continuing the strategy of ecologisation it began pursuing several years ago. In Carinthia, for example, numerous heating systems have been replaced with biomass systems and in Vienna several passive houses have been built. Moreover, Austria's first wood chip heating system in an urban public housing complex has been installed, innovative uses for solar energy tested (for ex. solar cells combined with a residential electric filling station in the Aßmayergasse property), and since last year all of the BUWOG/ESG Group's power demand has been met with green electricity.

This systematic focus on ecological targets has made it possible for BUWOG as one of only six key Austrian companies to become a partner to the 'klima:aktiv pact 2020'. The relevant target agreements between the Ministry of Environment and BUWOG were signed recently.

'For us environmental protection is such a central issue also because for a housing company every investment in ecology and energy efficiency pays off in full', Managing Director Gerhard Schuster explains. 'Every kilowatt hour of energy saved not only means lower CO₂ emissions, but also lower operating costs for our tenants and flat owners. This means we don't have to 'pay extra' for environmental protection, rather every measure helps both our customers and the environment'.

The BUWOG Group is Austria's leading residential company with a portfolio of more than 32,000 rental and freehold flats in around 1,200 properties. With a construction volume of 500 to 700 new flats in greater Vienna per year, it is also one of the most active residential builders in Austria.
 

On IMMOFINANZ Group
IMMOFINANZ Group is one of the leading listed property companies in Europe and is included in the leading ATX index of the Vienna Stock Exchange. Since its founding in 1990, the company has compiled a high-quality property portfolio that now comprises more than 1,820 investment properties with a carrying amount of approx. EUR 10.36 billion. The core business of IMMOFINANZ Group covers the acquisition and management of investment properties, the realisation of development projects and the sale of objects. IMMOFINANZ Group concentrates its activities in the retail, office, logistics and residential segments of eight regional core markets: Austria, Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Poland and Russia. Further information under: www.immofinanz.com.

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Thomas Brey
BUWOG Press Office
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brey@lustigbrey.at

Sandra Bauer
Head of Corporate Communications | Press Spokesperson
IMMOFINANZ AG
T +43 (0)5 7111 2292
M +43 (0)699 1685 7292
communications@immofinanz.com

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Stefan Schönauer
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IMMOFINANZ AG
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