"The Forum project – 43,000 m² above-ground – is an emblematic project in terms of real estate development, respectful of the urban environment and at the top of progress in terms of sustainable construction."

Philippe VERDUSSEN, Architect - ARCHI 2000

Sustainable development is an important vehicle for growth for Immobel. Sustainable development and environmental concerns in general are major factors in the structural changes which the real estate development market is currently undergoing. Immobel is marshalling all of its resources and its know-how to meet this challenge in order to provide both the private and the public sectors with offices and housing that meet new environmental standards and requirements.

This evolution can also be seen in changes in the quality of demand. Companies and government alike are increasingly aware of their environmental responsibilities. They have realised that by optimising work areas, they can concurrently decrease their environmental footprint, improve the working environment of their employees and decrease leasing and operational costs for the buildings they occupy.

One of the consequences of these changes will, of course, be the downgrading of older buildings, the move to new buildings and the renovation of vacated buildings in line with the new standards. The projects developed by Immobel are also part of this dynamic and contribute to the redevelopment of sites which have become obsolete. Immobel thus contributes to the re-vitalisation of declining city neighbourhoods.

From the standpoint of defining and scheduling residential and office building energy performance objectives, the so-called PEB calculation modules are now well established and minimal values have been made compulsory in Flanders since 2006 and in Brussels since 2008. They should also become mandatory in Wallonia as of 1st May 2010. These values provide a guarantee of the energy and comfort levels of the buildings that come on the market.

Immobel is attentive to the environmental quality of its projects. In this respect, it is using the Green Building Brussels database developed by IBGE and the VALIDEO and BREEAM "International Office 2009 Environmental and Sustainability Standard" certifications. Among other things, these databases take into account the layout of buildings in their urban surroundings, the ecological choices made for materials and their use, the ecological use of water and rain water, energy consumption and waste management. They also pay a great deal of attention to the well-being of building occupants, to their visual comfort, to natural lighting, to temperature and ventilation settings, to the air quality and to the acoustic comfort.

Thanks to its ZERO ENERGY BUILDING study programme, Immobel has also anticipated the ambitious policy decided by the European Council and Parliament which stipulates that, by 2020, the energy consumption of all new buildings must be virtually nil.