Act reliably
Our Annual Report
Management Approach
For an initial assessment, ENCORE and WWF Water Risk Filter maps help us identify potential risk areas like water stress and heavy rainfall flooding. We then conduct more detailed analyses using our proprietary climate risk tool and digital geoinformation portals from federal state authorities. Results are reviewed biannually as part of our risk assessment process and addressed in the risk report if relevant. For the current five-year outlook and our longer-term perspective, we do not identify any material water-related risks for our portfolio.
We also recognise that climatic conditions are noticeably shifting. Increasing heatwaves, heavy rainfall, and prolonged droughts may cause vegetation damage, infrastructure risks, and rising insurance costs. Against this backdrop, we proactively implement preventive measures to mitigate negative impacts and enhance the resilience of our neighbourhoods. Water is a valuable resource—responsible usage helps protect quality of life and improve long-term cost efficiency.
Our water management approach has two main aims: to reduce water consumption and encourage local use and storage of rainwater and greywater. Innovative solutions—such as controlled infiltration via retention areas, green roofs, and swales—help mitigate flood risks, cool urban heat islands, and improve microclimates. They also enable resource-efficient irrigation of green spaces and can help lower operating costs. The strategic basis for these measures is our Planning Guideline for Sustainable Open Spaces, which underpins the objective of creating integrated blue-green infrastructure.
To continually improve our measures, we cooperate closely with expert institutions and partners. For instance, we work with the Fraunhofer Institute to plan an integrated water management system in our pilot neighbourhood in Bochum-Weitmar, and participate in the KlimaKoop.Kommunen network to promote holistic water management solutions.
Water is especially important in residential environment management and new developments. At board level, the Chief Rental Officer is responsible for implementation in the residential environment segment, while the Chief Development Officer oversees new construction. Both functions collaborate closely—particularly on risk assessment, open space planning, and developing measures—to seize opportunities and address risks early.
Our measures
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Heavy Rainfall / Flooding
Heavy rainfall events can cause considerable damage to infrastructure and buildings in a short space of time and endanger affected residents. Our standard processes therefore contain numerous measures to minimize risk and damage. For example, we provide flood analyses that enable better planning of water management in the neighborhoods.
The aim of the planned measures is to enable absorption of the sudden increases in water levels caused by heavy rainfall. We include possible forms of rainwater management such as cisterns, trenches or retention basins and use green roofs to reduce the rate of rainwater run-off. Extensive retention area planning, which serves to provide flooding areas for running water, is included as standard.
Water management is an integral part of all planned construction, refurbishment and neighborhood development work and is backed up with specific measures through the application of our binding planning guidelines for sustainable open spaces.
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Water Scarcity
While heavy rainfall events overwhelm the soil’s absorption capacity in the short term, extended periods of drought cause the groundwater level to drop, leading to a further reduction in the soil’s ability to store water. Conversely, a controlled, slow and continuous supply of water can increase the soil’s storage capacity – just like a sponge. The “sponge city” concept thus improves the water cycle and the urban climate by delaying the runoff of rainwater and reducing heat stress through evaporation.
This is particularly important in regions that experience a high level of water stress, i.e. severe water scarcity. Even if we have not currently identified any areas in our real estate portfolio that are at such risk, introducing measures at an early stage will help to improve the urban climate and therefore people’s comfort of living.
Typical water management measures in our neighborhoods therefore include the use of retention basins and areas as well as green roofs and other drainage systems. Water from the roof drainage systems no longer runs into the public sewage system, but is allowed to infiltrate the ground in the neighborhood itself. Planted areas around the buildings can then be watered using targeted gradient planning. The increased use of seepage paving on paths and parking lots also contributes to lowering the extent to which our land is sealed and creates more space for natural ground drainage. We make optimal use of these areas by integrating additional recreational facilities or habitats into retention basins, for example. In areas where only very limited rainwater infiltration is possible, we install additional evaporation basins.
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Efficient water use
We can only influence our tenants' water consumption to a limited extent. However, they play a central role when it comes to the goal of reducing general water consumption. In addition to providing tenants with information, e.g. via our customer magazine “zuhause”, which is published three times a year, we focus on the use of water-saving elements, e.g. for flushing toilets or taps, during modernization measures and conversions. Regular functional and visual inspections in buildings are also designed to identify water leakages at an early stage.
Wastewater in our properties is discharged via the sewer system and treated in wastewater treatment plants. Wastewater is not discharged into the oceans or groundwater.
We use water-saving sanitary systems at our office locations to reduce water consumption. At the company headquarters in Bochum, we provide drinking water systems for the approximately 1,000 employees who work there, thus avoiding the use of plastic. By moving our customer service location from Duisburg to a new property in Essen, we were also able to significantly reduce water consumption.
Links
- Click here for the climate change adaptation section
- Click here for our current ESG Factbook 2025
- Click here for our current annual report