White Peak receives GRESB-BREEAM Asia Award

White Peak receives GRESB-BREEAM Asia Award

White Peak, the Swedish funded Chinese based real estate developer, has been ranked the best performer in Asia at the first joint GRESB and BREEAM Asia awards for responsible real estate development in China.

The company, jointly founded by Jesper Jos Olsson, was awarded the GRESB/BREEAM Asia Award for Best Performing Entity at the BRE China Awards 2021 and BREEAM 30th Anniversary gala in recognition of its achievements and leadership in sustainable development and social responsibility. White Peak’s Zhongrui Eco City project in Shenyang also received a BREEAM Residential Award.

Jesper Jos Olsson, Group CEO said: “The award given by GRESB and BREEAM are recognition of White Peak’s sustainability and ESG efforts over the past decade and hugely encouraging for our employees, partners and investors as we continue to strive for the best practices in China. Meanwhile, we are glad to see that an increasing number of real estate developers in China are adopting green building standards, and we look forward to bringing more positive changes to the industry together with our peers.”

Post-Covid, China has placed sustainability at the top of the agenda, and last year pledged to peak its carbon emissions by 2030 and attain carbon neutrality by 2060. Jesper commented: “These are ambitious goals that we believe will have a profound impact on the China real estate sector, one of the biggest sources of greenhouse gas emissions. White Peak is well-positioned to be at the head of the curve in the country’s real estate sector. We believe our business comes with responsibilities and we have embedded environmental, social and governance KPIs into our overall strategy and risk oversight.”

For the first time, GRESB and BREEAM, the two authoritative third-party organizations that have set the standards for sustainable buildings, jointly evaluated the real estate investments in Asia that embody outstanding social responsibility. The shortlisted candidates were drawn from GRESB members who have the highest percentage coverage of and total number of assets using GRESB and BREEAM building certification. White Peak ranked top in both aspects.

Ruben Langbroek, Head of GRESB Asia Pacific, said, “The shortlisted parties and award recipients for this year’s inaugural GRESB BREEAM Asia Awards have been leading the momentum for responsible real estate investments in Asia. GRESB is delighted to be recognizing their leadership with this years’ joint awards. We look forward to seeing and supporting the growth in responsible real estate investments in Asia with these industry leaders.”

Xinying Tok, Asia Representative of GRESB, noted: “We are encouraged by the fact that Asian real estate players are paying more and more attention to data-driven methods to improve the sustainability of real estate. White Peak, as a responsible enterprise, has consistently been among the best-performing developers in our GRESB Assessments over the past few years.”

Quinnie Li, General Manager of BRE China, said: “These award-wining projects developed by White Peak and other developers provide best practice examples for sustainable development in the field of green building. We hope the ‘Green Building Oscars’ can encourage more players to adopt sustainable ideas thus helping to build a more resilient world.”

White Peak is the developer behind the landmark Hammarby Eco City in Yantai, which is currently under construction. Inspired by Hammarby Sjöstad, a smart eco-city and a global model for urban redevelopment in Stockholm, Sweden, the eco city is being built on a former industrial area, turning it into a green, innovative, healthy, and digital community. The first phase to be finished by 2022 includes around 2,000 homes, along with an ice hockey arena and retail facilities. Upon its completion, it will be Yantai’s sustainability centrepiece.

Recognized as a leader in ESG by GRESB, White Peak was awarded Regional Sector Leader and ranked the first among Asian residential developers in the 2019 GRESB Assessment. It also ranked No.1 among all Asian non-listed opportunistic funds in the 2020 GRESB Assessment. In addition, three projects including Zhongrui Eco City project in Shenyang gained gold certification from LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), which recognizes best-in-class green building strategies.