28 July 2020

Greenward Partners and EIG agreement to introduce Circularity in Building Energy Efficiency Projects

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Greenward Partners, the first green capital activation company in Spain, and Eco Intelligent Growth (EIG), innovation and cradle to cradle circular economy advisors, have signed an agreement to jointly develop projects to improve the sustainability of buildings, incorporating both the optimization of energy efficiency and the total circularity of their materials, generating zero waste.
Thanks to this agreement, both companies will be the first in Spain to address building rehabilitation projects with a global approach to sustainability that encompasses both energy efficiency and the circularity of the materials used, so that the buildings are healthy in the emission of CO2, polluting gasses and waste.
The application of the methodologies developed in their respective fields by Greenward, a firm specialized in the activation of the energy capital of buildings, and EIG, the only company in Spain accredited to assess product against the Cradle to Cradle Certified™ Products Program for circular products, enable to complete the measurement, reduction and monitoring of the environmental footprint and sustainability of the buildings for the first time, incorporating the  carbon footprint and management, the GHG emissions footprint and the chemical footprint of the materials and processes in the building.
The combined proposals of Greenward Partners and EIG makes it possible to show the full value of the ecological capital of buildings – energy and materials – to optimize the opportunity of their activation, with the consequent benefit to society, the economy and the planet:
  • Reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.
  • Zero waste and conservation of natural resources.
  • Savings in energy costs and other running costs.
  • Value creation from the materials used in the construction, which until now represent only a source of costs.
  • Value creation from power generation and conservation capacity of buildings.
  • Increased value of real estate and reduced legislative and reputational risks.
The integration of circularity and energy efficiency into building sustainability projects allows the development of a circular passport of the buildings, which, together with the energy passport, represent the additional increase in the value of the buildings. This increase in value comes, on the one hand, from the energy savings and the greater potential to generate rents received by the property, and also from the improvement of the residual value as a result of the materials used in the rehabilitation being reused and therefore acquiring a value in the market.
The circular passport is the identity document of the materials, which allows them to be transformed into a valuable asset. EIG’s circular passport offers the calculation of the value to business (residual value range, calculation of the increase in the net present value -NPV-, the internal rate of return -IRT-, among others) and the value to society, through indicators such as carbon footprint, circularity, ecotoxicity and human health.
To ensure that this residual value is realized and materials never become waste, the circular passport is integrated into a resource management platform that allows traceability over time and direct transaction between supply, demand and transformers.
Read the full press release: