Part of LBBW
Operational Ecology
Berlin Hyp seeks to make a contribution to safeguarding the livelihood of people today and future generations in a strong economy that continues to provide for their needs. Along with our commitment to sustainable real estate and financing approaches, we also focus strongly on ensuring effective environmental protection within our company and along our entire value chain.
Paperless offices
We see digitalisation as an opportunity to reduce our consumption of resources even more. Based on our use of paper, we can identify a trend towards paperless offices at Berlin Hyp. In addition to reducing our paper consumption, we now only use copy paper that has been certified with the EU Ecolabel. Paperless working has also of course become more commonplace as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. In the medium term, we aim to switch over our few remaining necessary printing and copying processes to exclusively use recycled paper.
Electricity consumption
Berlin Hyp has managed to reduce its overall electricity consumption and now uses exclusively renewable energy sources in all of its German locations. The electricity used by employees during their predominantly mobile work in 2020 has been factored in here as an estimate. Thanks to the new building, our more sustainable corporate headquarters at Budapester Strasse 1 will enable us to yet again reduce our electricity consumption dramatically. (Source: Environmental Statement 2020, p 24)
Drinking water consumption
Drinking water is a vital and scarce resource, so it is of great importance to us to continually reduce our consumption of this valuable resource. This approach is also increasingly being integrated into the offices. Our level of drinking water consumption in 2020 was largely attributable to technical facilities and construction projects. (Source: Environmental Statement 2020, p 24)
CO2 emissions
At Berlin Hyp, we have set ourselves the goal of becoming the most sustainable real estate financier in Germany. It is absolutely essential that we make a contribution to climate protection in order to achieve this, which is why we have the goal of ensuring that our business operations are CO2-neutral by 2025. With this in mind, it is particularly encouraging for us that the greenhouse gas emissions from our business operations have been declining on the whole since 2015. Amongst other measures, we have expanded our use of renewable energies in order to achieve this. With the compensation that we carry out, we were able to reduce our 2020 footprint even further – by a total of around 50 tonnes of greenhouse gases. The figures for 2020 were also influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic. (Source: Environmental Statement 2020, p 27)
Compliance with key standards
Berlin Hyp’s Environmental Policy defines the Bank’s approach to environmental protection. This policy, which was published for the first time in 2014, is reviewed and updated by management on an annual basis. The Environmental Policy is based on international environmental standards such as the UN Global Compact. It is also modelled on relevant standards in the real estate and financial sectors, such as the ZIA e .V. (ZIA – German Property Federation) industry code regarding sustainability, the principles of sustainability formulated by the Deutscher Sparkassen-und Giroverband e.V.(German Savings Banks Association) and the “Commitment by German savings banks to climate-friendly and sustainable business practices”.
Comprehensive Environmental Programme and a certified environmental management system
Berlin Hyp’s Environmental Programme describes all the measures that are being used to achieve environmental protection targets at Berlin Hyp. Like the Bank’s annual Environmental Statement, the programme also contains information on the progress we are making in each area.
Berlin Hyp’s environmental management system defines environmental management structures and processes and the assignment of responsibilities. This system, which addresses all aspects of operational ecology at all of our locations, continuously assesses the progress we make and evaluates ongoing and planned measures, making adjustments wherever necessary. Berlin Hyp’s environmental management system has been validated in accordance with the EMAS European standard and also meets the requirements of the global DIN EN ISO 14001 environmental management standard.
You can view the most recent versions of Berlin Hyp’s Environmental Policy, Environmental Programme and Environmental Statement here.
New sustainable corporate headquarters
The construction of a new corporate headquarters for Berlin Hyp marks a major step towards achieving more sustainable banking operations. The building, which was designed by the Danish architecture firm C.F. Møller Architects and is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2024, is sustainable in several different ways:
- Energy efficient: The new headquarters will enable the Bank to reduce its energy consumption by approximately 50 per cent as compared to the old building. The special design of outdoor areas and open spaces will reduce CO₂emissions, while photovoltaic systems installed on the entire façade and on part of the roof will improve the building’s energy performance even further.
- Environmentally friendly: When demolishing the old building, Berlin Hyp took care to recycle and dispose of all materials in an environmentally friendly manner. For example, the majority of small office furniture, materials and equipment from the building that were no longer needed were donated or auctioned off and were therefore put to further use. Berlin Hyp has received pre-certification in platinum for its entire building deconstruction project from the German Sustainable Building Council (DGNB).
- Modern: Berlin Hyp employees can look forward to state-of-the art workstations and a modern working environment that promotes creativity and collaboration.
- Open: Berlin Hyp will open up the new building to the public and will make selected spaces available for art exhibitions and other events.
- Participatory: Thanks to a broad approach which encourages participation, the Bank’s employees can get actively involved in the formation of the new building.
Berlin Hyp is aiming to obtain DGNB platinum certification for the new headquarters as well.
You can find additional information here.