Coinciding with World Green Building Week (21st – 28th September), Lidl Ireland announce that newly opened Newbridge Regional Distribution Centre has achieved BREEAM Excellent, the first distribution centre in Ireland to be awarded with BREEAM certification – the world’s leading sustainability assessment for buildings.
As part of the certification process, Lidl Ireland have partnered with BirdWatch Ireland to install 45 bird boxes at the retailer’s Newbridge Distribution Centre, to help maintain the natural wildlife habitat and enhance biodiversity. The installation comprises a mix of bird boxes catering to a broad scope of bird species with the addition of several bat boxes, which have also been installed at the Newbridge facility to support night-time pollination.
Lidl Ireland has already adopted a number of measures to enhance the sustainability of the building and its surrounds, including having the largest rooftop solar array in the country, a ‘biodiversity corridor’, planting of nearly 6,000 native trees and a pollinator zone abutting the building which facilitates wildflower meadows conserving native flower species and encouraging new growth.
Commenting on Lidl Ireland’s achievement of BREEAM, Dr Shamir Ghumra, BREEAM Director at BRE said, “It is great to see Lidl Ireland continuing to demonstrate its long-term commitment to BREEAM; the recent certificate for their Distribution Centre in Newbridge achieved an Excellent rating with a score of more than 76%. This represents a great achievement for both Lidl and BREEAM in Ireland where we see a growing demand for BREEAM in response to a global movement for change and market transformation. Lidl are amongst the leading international companies who are taking a holistic approach to sustainability assessment. As the first distribution centre in Ireland to achieve this rating Lidl are helping to raise the bar of building performance. Dr Shamir Ghumra, BREEAM Director, BRE.”
Having partnered with Lidl Ireland to install more than 40 bird boxes in support of the retailer’s BREEAM status, Niall Hatch, BirdWatch Ireland's Head of Development and Communications commented, “As Ireland’s largest independent conservation organisation, it has been a fantastic opportunity to work with Lidl on creating these nesting sites for a variety of bird species. Conservation of our natural environment is just something that doesn’t happen enough, so it is great to see Lidl leading the way.”
Contextualising the achievement of BREEAM status within Lidl’s sustainability strategy ‘A Better Tomorrow’, Lidl Ireland’s Head of CSR, Owen Keogh said, “At Lidl, sustainability is core to everything we do, from responsible sourcing to waste management and beyond. We are continuously looking at ways to minimise our impact and enhance sustainability throughout our business and BREEAM is the perfect example of that! Becoming the first distribution centre in Ireland to achieve the BREEAM status demonstrates Lidl’s leadership in the sustainability field and it is something that we are incredibly proud of.”
