Bouwinvest Residential Fund adapts two new-build projects to meet Building Balance CO2 commitment

In September 2025, thirteen institutional real estate parties, including Bouwinvest, signed the CO2 commitment. Together representing more than €60 billion in invested capital, the parties agreed to work with target values and hard ceiling values for the material-related CO₂ emissions of new-build projects. Projects exceeding the ceiling value are in principle not eligible for acquisition.

The purchase agreements for both projects had been signed before the commitment came into effect. The Bouwinvest Residential Fund subsequently examined what was needed to bring these projects in line with the cap values. Given the construction schedule, this had to be arranged at short notice. In consultation with the developers, contractors and advisers, 30 per cent of the concrete in both projects will be reused concrete. As a result, the embodied carbon of De Nieuwe Kethelpoort and Project Conrad falls below the applicable cap values of the Building Balance Commitment.

The additional investment required was limited enough to leave the expected return on both projects unaffected. Bouwinvest anticipates a market correction for CO₂ emissions within its investment horizon, thereby protecting its investors' returns. These adjustments illustrate that sustainability objectives and financial returns reinforce one another.

Market forces as an instrument
Bouwinvest views the commitment not only as an internal standard but also as a market instrument. By providing clarity as a major buyer on what it will and will not purchase, it actively drives the sustainability of the construction supply chain. Future acquisitions will be assessed against the Building Balance CO2 commitment in advance, preventing costly adjustments during the realisation phase.

Paul van Stiphout, Fund Manager Residential Investments at Bouwinvest: "For us, the CO2 commitment is more than a pledge on paper. At Conrad and De Nieuwe Kethelpoort, we have shown that we are prepared to take additional steps even on projects already under way. We believe a market correction for CO₂ emissions is inevitable within our investment horizon. Anticipating that now protects returns. So for us this is not only a sustainability ambition, it is also risk management."