MAPECO looks beyond the EPC NR label

For MAPECO, a refurbishment is more than just a response to a building’s current requirements. As a property owner and investor, the company wants to know which measures will remain relevant in the longer term. For its site in Leuven, MAPECO therefore deliberately opted for a broader analysis of EPC NR, refurbishment options and CRREM, focusing on compliance, technical aspects and financial impact.

An EPC rating as a starting point, not an end point

MAPECO combines two perspectives at the Leuven site: the company is both the owner and investor, as well as the user of the asset. When the building was awarded an EPC NR X rating, the directors therefore chose not to look solely at what is required today.

A future refurbishment and possible alternative uses for the building made a broader assessment more relevant. Which measures make technical sense? What compliance issues need to be addressed? And which investments are financially justifiable in view of the asset’s future?

This critical approach characterises the chosen strategy. Rather than assessing measures in isolation, MAPECO first sought to establish a well-founded understanding of the asset’s current status and the logical long-term direction.

MAPECO broadens its focus to include CRREM

Following a site visit and data collection, Encon consolidated the various dimensions into a single analysis. The EPC NR analysis and renovation roadmap mapped out the current situation and possible renovation steps in terms of compliance, technical aspects and financial impact.

CRREM was also incorporated during the process. MAPECO saw this as a relevant addition to the original enquiry: larger property firms are placing increasing value on it, and the framework also offers an additional perspective for assessing individual assets within a property portfolio.

Encon’s role was to translate these various analyses into a single, practical decision-making framework. As a result, MAPECO does not need to treat EPC NR, technical renovation options, financial considerations and CRREM as separate issues. The roadmap brings them together around one central question: which interventions make sense in view of this asset’s future role?

From a single asset in Leuven to portfolio insight

MAPECO now has a roadmap that enables it to proceed in a targeted manner with the future refurbishment and potential repurposing of the building. For the directors, this roadmap provides a basis for critically weighing up investments against technical necessity, compliance and financial impact.

This also makes the exercise strategically interesting for MAPECO as a property investor. The analysis helps to look beyond the current condition of a single building and to better substantiate future investment decisions based on the asset’s position within the portfolio.

MAPECO was satisfied with both the approach and the result and therefore wishes to explore how a similar analysis could be applied to other assets. What began with an EPC NR X label in Leuven is thus becoming a methodology that enables MAPECO to assess its property portfolio in a more targeted manner and prepare it for future investment decisions.