Resource and Climate Protection in Business Operations

In our office and administrative buildings, we aim to be as resource-efficient as possible. Starting in 2022, we began transitioning our administrative buildings from our own portfolio to green electricity supply, implemented by Vonovia Energy Service GmbH (VESG), our internal energy generation and distribution division. Additionally, since January, we have been sourcing green electricity through a Power Purchase Agreement with RWE Supply & Trading from 10 wind turbines. In Austria, since 2021, all BUWOG office locations have been supplied with certified green electricity (UZ46). 

Furthermore, we are committed to enhancing our energy efficiency. Every four years, as legally required, we conduct an energy audit according to DIN EN 16247-1 — most recently in 2020. This audit includes a sampling inspection and assessment of the energy aspects of buildings used for our business operations. Given Vonovia's homogeneous property and consumption structure, the identified measures from the audit can be effectively applied across the entire group. Recommendations from the energy auditor are compiled into action plans and decentralized implementation is carried out by respective organizational units across the group's locations. These measures include energy and resource-saving initiatives such as LED lighting, installation of motion sensor-equipped lighting systems, and air-source heat pumps for efficient heating solutions. We have implemented automatic screen shutdown after 15 seconds of inactivity through our IT department, based on a recommendation from the energy audit. Additionally, we are increasingly transitioning to paperless offices. We have advanced our next audit to 2023 to include Deutsche Wohnen's administrative properties in our planning early. 

Both our corporate headquarters in Bochum and the central administrative building of BUWOG in Vienna hold sustainability certifications. The Bochum building is awarded DGNB Gold, while the Vienna building is certified with Gold by ÖGNI. BUWOG maintains a certified energy management system according to ISO 50001 for its entire Austrian operation and German development sector.