English:

REWE Green Building

World's First Supermarket to Receive Gold DGNB Certificate -

Pilot project in Berlin saves almost 50 per cent of energy

When REWE Group opens its first Green Building in Germany tomorrow (5 November) it will set a national and international

standard for sustainable building and operation of retail real estate.

The REWE store in Berlin-Rudow, measuring 1,830 square metres (sales area), was the first

supermarket in the world to be awarded a gold label by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Nachhaltiges Bauen

- DGNB (German Society for Sustainable Building). Altogether the REWE store is operated CO2-neutral.

Thanks to the ground-breaking use of state-of-the-art heating, ventilation, lighting, air-conditioning and

refrigeration systems, combined with the best possible insulation, the Green Building's energy

consumption has been cut by almost 50 percent compared to a standard building. In the normal refrigeration

and the combined refrigeration and deepfreeze systems, which cool fresh products and deepfreeze

assortments, natural refrigerant is exclusively used.

"With the REWE Green Building REWE Group is underlining its pioneering role in the food retail industry. We

don't want to just maintain this new store as a sort of sustainability panopticon, providing groups of visitors

with - so to speak - a view of an ideal world. With the Green Building we want to learn as much as possible

about the practice regarding sustainable building. In a second step, wherever this is possible and worthwhile

to achieve, we will then implement appropriate sustainability elements in our

supermarkets", noted Alain Caparros, CEO of REWE Group, on the occasion of opening the supermarket in

Berlin. He added that the sustainability principle of REWE Group went far beyond its product portfolio.

"With the Green Building REWE is deliberately setting an example. We want to show that ecology and

economy by no means contradict each other, particularly in economically-challenging times. If we save

resources today, then we also directly bolster our economic strength. Our customers not only expect us to

provide high-quality food at competitive prices but also that we adopt a sustainable approach in our use of

resources. The continuing positive development of our 3,300 REWE stores throughout

the whole of Germany shows that we are on the right track", explained Lionel Souque, managing director of

REWE supermarkets in Germany.

"The sustainable use of resources is becoming increasingly important not only in architecture but also in

terms of the utilization of buildings. The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Nachhaltiges Bauen is therefore delighted

that it has such a member in its organisation as REWE: the first trading company which is actively participating

in establishing the certification variant 'Trading Buildings'. With this ground-breaking pilot project, which was

able to secure the DGNB certificate in gold, REWE is setting a new

benchmark for 'sustainable construction and operation of retail buildings in the European food retail industry'",

commented Prof.-Ing. Alexander Rudolphi, presidium member of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Nachhaltiges

Bauen, on the occasion of the awarding ceremony in Berlin.

The REWE store in Berlin produces around 40 per cent of its own energy requirements. The photovoltaic

system measuring almost 2,000 square metres combines a large roof-top unit made of special cylindrical

modules - which collect the sunshine on a 360-degree surface and are hence particularly energy efficient -

with a photovoltaic unit integrated into the glass of the projecting part of the roof. This not only provides

stylish design features but also at the same time provides natural shading for the large

window surfaces.

Twelve bore holes in the ground, each reaching depths of almost 100 metres, were required to create a

geothermal energy plant, which makes the use of fossil fuels superfluous throughout the whole year. The

REWE Green Building incorporates the principle of daylight architecture, which has up to now scarcely been

used in the German retail industry: this is implemented through a 280 metre long window façade running

around the full length of the building and 18 cupolas providing light through the roof.

This daylight architecture is combined with optimum insulation (cellulose) and sustainable materials, such as

wood.

The REWE store at Groß-Ziethener Chaussee 37 has two charging stations for electric cars. These charging

points are operated by Vattenfall. The energy provider uses certified green power from renewable energies

to supply the charging points. There are a total of eleven charging stations at REWE stores in Berlin.

Photos are available for downloading at rewe-group.com/presse.