Thursday, 10 September 2026
Three FACTORY outlet centres in Poland have renewed their BREEAM In-Use certifications, with the Poznań property achieving the highest Outstanding rating for management performance. The results accompany a wider programme aimed at reducing energy, water and waste consumption across the portfolio.
FACTORY Poznań received Outstanding for management performance and Excellent for asset performance. FACTORY Annopol and FACTORY Ursus in Warsaw were both rated Excellent in the two categories. The remaining Polish centres will undergo reassessment according to their individual certification schedules.
The results highlight the increasing emphasis on improving the environmental performance of existing retail property rather than concentrating sustainability investment exclusively on new developments. BREEAM In-Use evaluates both the physical performance of an operating building and how effectively it is managed, including areas such as energy consumption and resource efficiency.
“BREEAM In-Use recertification shows that sustainability is a process of continuous improvement for us,” said Maciej Zacharewicz, International Facility Manager at NEINVER. “We focus on consistently implementing changes that deliver measurable effects across many areas of our day-to-day operations. BREEAM In-Use allows us to verify our progress while identifying further areas for improvement. We see the certification as an important part of the long-term management of our assets.”
Electricity used across the Polish centres comes entirely from renewable sources, while energy audits have been carried out across the portfolio during 2026 to identify further opportunities to reduce consumption and operating costs.
Water consumption across the properties decreased by an average of 8% in 2026 compared with 2025. Measures contributing to the reduction include water-saving equipment and the collection of rainwater for irrigating landscaped areas.
Waste management represents another part of the programme. FACTORY centres hold Zero Waste certifications and report an average 92% waste recovery rate, with the longer-term objective of minimising the amount of material ultimately sent to landfill.
These measures form part of the company’s wider European Building Tomorrow ESG programme, which focuses on reducing the environmental impact of its operations while improving the efficiency of existing properties.
For retail property owners, the growing emphasis on buildings already in operation is particularly significant. Much of Europe’s shopping-centre and outlet stock will remain in use for decades, making reductions in energy consumption, water use and waste increasingly relevant to operating costs, regulatory requirements and long-term asset competitiveness.
The latest FACTORY results therefore provide more than another certification milestone. Combined with measurable reductions in resource consumption and continuing investment in operating efficiency, they illustrate how environmental improvements are becoming embedded in the day-to-day management of established Polish retail properties.
