The company has defined targets and criteria for all three dimensions of sustainability. These relate to the real estate portfolio managed by INDUSTRIA, as well as to the company itself. The most important starting point is the managed real estate portfolio, as, with a portfolio of EUR 4.9 billion, this is where the greatest leverage for improvement lies.
The focus is on the letter S, which stands for social. As a fund and asset manager, INDUSTRIA wishes to live up to its social responsibility. Therefore, the funds invest part of their capital in subsidised housing. Affordable housing is currently one of the biggest social problems in Germany. Around 14 percent of the population live in households that are burdened with high housing costs. Particularly in the metropolises, it is extremely difficult for parts of the population to find affordable housing. This situation has been further compounded by the fact that between 2006 and 2019, one million social housing units were abandoned. These can now be freely financed and rented out. In turn, only around 200,000 social housing units have been built. This represents an enormous discrepancy. Currently, subsidised housing accounts for around 16 percent of INDUSTRIA's total real estate assets under management. This equates to over 2,300 publicly subsidised flats.
In the social sphere, INDUSTRIA places great emphasis on both balancing work and family life and on the health of its employees. One of our many charitable projects is the "Business meets Charity" event. Applying our philosophy, employees, customers and business partners have been supporting deserving projects and socially committed associations every year for over 10 years. In addition, "INDUSTRIA helps!" financially supports the voluntary work of employees in various associations.
In addition to social sustainability, ecological sustainability – the E-criteria – plays an important role in the formulation and implementation of our strategy. For example, many of the newly purchased properties meet the Kf 55 or KfW 40 Plus building standards. When it comes to heating, INDUSTRIA favours geothermal systems. The focus is also on ecology when it comes to energy supply. For example, the fund property "The Plus" in Wolfsburg has a photovoltaic system installed on its roof and a battery storage system for supplying its own electricity. If economically feasible, existing properties are renovated to make them more energy-efficient. Moreover, we check whether photovoltaic systems can be installed on the roofs.
As for its own business, INDUSTRIA is committed to the efficient use of natural resources. This includes, for example, a paperless office and internal guidelines for the preferential use of train travel over air travel, forming car pools and opting for rental cars with hybrid drive or electric-vehicles. In addition, the company incentivises employees to use public transport by paying for job tickets. And lastly, INDUSTRIA had been championing working from home - even before covid. Good corporate governance - the G-criteria from ESG - has always been a matter of course for INDUSTRIA. Fairness, trust and integrity as well as equality across all levels and sectors are the basis for our business activities.
