Sustainable real estate 2050
Sustainable Public Real Estate Management (SPREM) is almost non-existent in Flanders (BE). SPREM can be defined as the management – i.e. acquisition, holding, using and disposing - of real estate assets in such a way that it realises ambitious sustainability goals, minimises the total costs of ownership and life cycle costs and maximises the benefits of real estate for the community. 

The absence of SPREM is a major barrier for large scale sustainable energy investments in public buildings in the short, medium and long term in Flanders. This barrier has consistently been identified by SURE2050 consortium partners supporting public clients with energy efficiency services as well as by municipalities themselves, including the more than 95 municipalities that indicated their strong interest in SURE2050 via a Letter of Support.  

SURE2050 will remove this barrier by providing SPREM-training, SPREM tools and coaching to municipalities and to regional governmental organisations in Flanders. SPREM will generate critical information for strategic decision making, such as reliable quantitative and qualitative data on buildings, energy renovation potential and the use of resources. Thanks to the long-term SPREM vision, shorter term energy efficiency investments can be made without causing any lock-in effect for the future. A broad consortium of public and private partners has been created to maximise the involvement of these public organisations in the programme and to support them with the implementation of SPREM in their organisation, as well as with the concrete sustainable investment projects with a minimum value of 20 million EUR.

As the absence of SPREM is not limited to public organisations in Flanders, the SURE2050 proposed project will also have a high added value for most public entities in Europe. SURE2050 will therefore realise a high replication potential at the European level via organisations such as the Covenant of Mayors office.