“The awarding of a BREEAM certificate to a complex which hosts SBA Home’s companies is evidence that we are not only talking about a reduced environmental footprint and sustainability. These are core principles that the entire SBA Group acts on and so, sustainability was sought even as the project was being developed. Sustainability certificates are currently a rare sight for industrial buildings in Lithuania, so as we develop our business in sustainable buildings, we aim to be the frontrunners of this new trend,” Laurynas Vitkus, director of Innovo Logistika, which leases buildings from EfTEN, says.
The Innovo Logistika and Laminn buildings developed by SBA Urban were acquired by the Estonian fund management company EfTEN almost a year ago for 28.6 million euro.
“The buildings we manage at the SBA Industrial Innovation Valley belong to the Baltic States’ first green fund EfTEN Real Estate Fund 4 and all holdings in its portfolio have been awarded with sustainability certificates. It’s proof to investors that the fund is truly committed to developing sustainable businesses,” Laurynas Žilys, the head of EfTEN Capital AS in Lithuania, states.
The certified buildings in the SBA Industrial Innovation Valley were most favourably rated in the materials, energy, land use, and ecology categories.
“The certification of industrial purpose buildings is gaining momentum in Lithuania – up to the beginning of this year, we had only two certified logistics, manufacturing, and warehousing facilities in the country, but just in this year, three projects received BREEAM recognition, with another seven currently in the process of certification. Similar trends can be observed in Latvia and Estonia as well,” the head of the sustainability consultancy and building certification company Vesta Consulting, Evaldas Savickis, comments.
The buildings of the SBA Industrial Innovation Valley were designed by National Prize laureate Rolandas Palekas and Paleko Archstudija, and were completed in 2020. The smoothly rising façade gives the impression of a plateau, and so, it blends harmoniously into its surroundings, while the rooftop greenery helps reduce heating and cooling energy costs. Like in all SBA Group companies, the buildings only use green electrical power generated from renewable sources. A smart lighting system has been installed, and heating is ensured through an air-to-air system. The logistics centre and furniture component factory only make use of electric forklifts.
Both the SBA Industrial Innovation Valley buildings recognised with the BREEAM certificate have been leased out for 15 years to Innovo Logistika, the largest furniture exporter in the Baltic States – SBA Home. Alongside them, development is underway for a new robotised Inno Line furniture manufacturing complex.
