Dream Industrial REIT (TSX: DIR.UN)

Our 182,000 square foot building in Offenau, Germany has an extensive green roof, which is covered with a layer of low-profile, self sustaining plants with no artificial irrigation.  The roof construction consists of metal decking and is covered with insulation and synthetic roofing membrane. The main roof parts are intensive green roofs with integrated roof light domes. Rainwater is discharged via irrigation. The addition of this green roof to our portfolio will provide our property management teams with valuable and transferrable insight into the structure and performance of green roofs that can be considered for applications elsewhere in our portfolio in the future. 

DIR.UN is pursuing the development of a 241,544 sq. ft. logistic center in Radeberg, Germany, intensifying excess land in our portfolio. German Sustainable Building Council (DGNB) Gold certification will be pursued and the building total performance score is projected between 65% and 85%. The building roof is being designed with the intent to install solar panels in the future.  DIR.UN is planning an initial installation of two EV charging stations with the capacity to add more stations based on tenant demand. Biodiversity has been given special consideration for this project as the existing brownfield site is being redeveloped without affecting the surrounding area. 

DIR.UN partnered with a tenant in 2021 to conduct a feasibility assessment to obtain LEED O&M Silver on a 30,000 sq. ft. building in Calgary.  The feasibility assessment was successful and the certification process will be completed in early 2022.  The building is outperforming buildings of similar size and occupancy, both locally and globally in water use. The certification will expand our portfolio of green certified buildings, and aligns with our tenant’s sustainability goals and commitments.

DIR.UN responded to the impact of the pandemic on our tenants through a comprehensive outreach program. Our teams connected directly with 100% of our tenants within the first 60 days of the lockdown.  We proactively offered a rent deferral program to tenants in need of financial assistance, to support the continuity of their business operations in uncertain times.  In addition, we provided extensive support to our tenants in the filing of their CECRA applications, to ensure they met application deadlines and submitted all required documentation.

We use climate-controlled irrigation at 42 of our sites in Calgary. The system uses real-time weather data from specialized water management weather stations to automatically adjust watering based on the best horticultural practices. Water schedules are programmed to meet specific landscape needs and detailed site assessments. The system also monitors seasonal performance to analyze opportunities for efficiencies. In 2020, we conserved 13,331,000 litres of water, equivalent to five Olympic sized swimming pools.

In 2020, DIR.UN partnered with Alveole to install a beehive at Glenmore Park in Calgary. The hive contains approximately 50,000 bees during peak season in July and early August. Alveole visits the hive every 3 weeks to monitor health and productivity and perform maintenance. Annually, each hive produces approximately 100 jars of delicious honey that we share with our tenants.

Our beehive is a unique tenant engagement tool that helps to promote positive attitudes toward protecting biodiversity in our local ecosystem.

Construction is currently underway to build a 44,000 sq.ft. expansion to the existing facility located at 100 East Beaver Creek Road in Richmond Hill, with an initial target of LEED Core & Shell certification for the expansion area.  The design of the building expansion contemplates each of the eight LEED categories to maximize energy performance, minimize the carbon footprint and contribute to a healthy indoor environment for the occupants.  In a parallel process, DIR.UN has also initiated LEED for Operations and Maintenance certification of the existing 110,000 sq.ft. building. At the completion of both certifications, and once the appropriate commissioning is complete, DIR.UN plans to align and advance LEED status by re-certifying the entire building to achieve LEED Silver accreditation. Our phased approach to LEED certification creates an opportunity to optimize building performance in our existing portfolio while executing our strategy to design and build sustainable developments.

Impact 83, a 158,000 sq.ft. property just outside the town of Duiven, Netherlands currently has 42 EV charging stations installed that are used by our tenant’s employees. The building also has an EPC label of ‘A’ that highlights the energy efficiency of the building. Our portfolio currently includes a total of eleven buildings with over 50 charging stations for electric vehicles.  In 2021 DIR.UN used our tenant outreach program to assess if tenants would like to have access to EV charging stations in our buildings, and 65% of respondents expressed interest. Going forward, we will be expanding the number of charging stations with a program that will align with our tenants’ requirements.

Sustainability plays a significant role in our capital allocation decisions including our acquisition, development, and capital expenditure programs. In 2021, we acquired assets with a broad range of sustainable attributes including 182,000 sq.ft. of green roofs with self-sustaining plants, 16 properties with bicycle storage, 11 buildings with EV charging stations, 10 properties with solar panels comprising over 3 MW of capacity, 2 properties that utilize land for grazing, and a property with a beehive.

When we evaluate potential acquisitions our due diligence process identifies a building’s sustainable attributes including EV charging stations, solar rooftop PV systems, bike storage, type of roof (white and green roofs), green building certifications, physical climate risk assessment and energy performance ratings (such as EPC and ESPM). We are continually updating our due diligence policy to stay current with technological advances in sustainability and regulatory requirements to ensure that we identify all existing sustainable attributes as well as opportunities to improve sustainability in the future. 

In 2020, DIR.UN commissioned feasibility assessments on over 10 properties in Alberta to assess the viability of installing roof-top solar PV systems. We are partnering with our tenants to provide them with the opportunity to purchase zero-emission energy to power their operations.  We have commenced two of the projects in 2021, and the remaining projects are in the final phase of review, with a total potential system capacity of 2.9 MW.

We are continually seeking ways to enhance our tenants’ experience and access to outdoor spaces.  At Glenmore Centre in Calgary, we added an additional 15 all weather picnic tables along with 10 bicycle racks for the 130+ tenants in the park, and worked with the City’s Urban Forest Planner to replace trees and enhance planting with local native species.  The landscape improvements benefit the business park as well as the surrounding community by promoting biodiversity.  At another property in Lachine, Quebec, we installed 7 outdoor picnic tables for our tenants.

We installed accessibility ramps at two buildings to enhance the access to the buildings. One ramp will service a 58,000 sq. ft. two story building currently occupied by 8 tenants and the second ramp will serve a two story 25,000 sq. ft. building. Accessible washrooms were also installed at both buildings.