IKEA Kaarst: The “More Sustainable Store”

IKEA has opened its most sustainable furniture store worldwide in Kaarst, near Düsseldorf. The “More Sustainable Store” is not only intended to set new standards in terms of environmental compatibility, but also to motivate customers towards a more sustainable life.

The IPJ engineering office has helped to develop the energy concept for the ground-breaking new IKEA building, combining a variety of resource-saving technologies: a combined heat and power plant and a solar thermal and photovoltaic system ensure environmentally-friendly energy generation and particularly good insulation for a pleasant climate. The energy-saving LED lighting is controlled according to the daylight, and rainwater and wastewater are recycled. The individual parts of the building are connected by green terraces; the outdoor facilities were created in collaboration with the German Nature Conservation Association (NABU) and have been designed to serve the protection of biodiversity.

Since its opening, the furniture store that is flooded with light has been one of the flagships of the “Klima Expo. NRW” climate protection initiative, which was launched by the state government of North Rhine-Westphalia. “With the world’s most sustainable IKEA furniture store in Kaarst, IKEA has shown that commercial real estate and climate-friendly construction work together extremely well,” praised Dr. Heinrich Thorn, Chairman and Managing Director of KlimaExpo.NRW. The audit for BREEAM certification was supervised by IPJ and was recently completed very successfully. With the coveted certificate, the British research institute BRE (Building Research Establishment) certifies an “Excellent” standard for all aspects of sustainability.