Sustainability
Sustainability is a Family issue
Anyone who uses the term “sustainable” should also let it melt on their tongue. It means: “having a strong impact over a long period of time, leaving a lasting effect”. As a second-generation family business, we understand and live what this means. We always orient our actions today with a view to future generations. What we decide today in full awareness, we want to be able to represent and pass on to our children and grandchildren tomorrow with a clear conscience.
Many years ago, Anno August Jagdfeld was the first German founding member of “The Prince’s Foundation”, established by Charles, Prince of Wales, to promote the principles of sustainable construction.
In a holistic sense, we now pursue sustainability throughout the Group on the basis of the ESG three-pillar model: Environment, Social and Governance.
In detail, this means for us in the area of environment: compliance with all environmental guidelines through environmental management, the pursuit of the goals of reducing CO2 emissions, the use of renewable energies, energy efficiency in all applications and the reduction of water consumption.
In the social area, we are committed to workers’ rights, freedom of association, a low turnover rate and high employee retention, work-life balance, training and skills development, employee diversity and health and safety management.
We manage governance through guidelines on bribery and corruption, tax transparency, management independence, money laundering prevention, fair remuneration systems, monitoring of supplier chains and maintaining a partnership-based client relationship and a high level of client/client loyalty.
Jagdfeld Gruppe Corporate Level
In the six major corporate divisions in which the Jagdfeld Gruppe helps to shape people’s lives, our opportunities for sustainable action are equally diverse.
Sustainability is exemplified at the Jagdfeld Gruppe’s large office locations in Düren, Berlin and Heiligendamm. We are working intensively and continuously on the implementation of the paperless office and the digitalisation of all workplaces. All workstations at the office locations have been converted and set up for optional mobile working. In addition, we are successively converting our entire vehicle fleet to sustainable electric and, in the future, hydrogen vehicles. Furthermore, we are planning the implementation of our own energy generation through solar plants on our roofs. In this way, we are also making our contribution to the climate by reducing CO2 emissions.
Jagdfeld Real Estate
The shopping, residential, office and hotel properties developed and managed by Jagdfeld Real Estate use large amounts of natural resources such as energy and water. This is where we come in, through regular optimisation and further development of building insulation and energy-saving measures such as LED lighting or waterless urinals. The replacement of older individual ventilation units with centralised modern ventilation systems and green roof measures are also part of this. Furthermore, the use of smart software for optimal control of the technical systems is planned.
This allows us to save up to 60% energy. But innovations such as the “one meeting point” in the City Center Bergedorf also have sustainable effects by reducing delivery traffic in city centres and thus CO2 emissions. Even the conversion of real estate whose life cycle is coming to an end is an act of sustainability. For example, a former department stores’ can become a day care centre, as implemented by Jagdfeld Real Estate in the City Galerie Aschaffenburg.
All hotels managed by Jagdfeld Real Estate under its own management have also undergone an extensive certification process and were awarded the GreenSign audit level 4 out of 5 in 2023.
The strategy and operational ESG measures of this corporate division can be found in detail in the detailed Sustainability Code on the website: www.jagdfeld-realestate.de/nachhaltigkeit
Jagdfeld Seaside Properties
Sustainability is a top priority in the planning and construction work of the Jagdfeld Group. We have been entrusted with buildings of cultural and historical significance in Heiligendamm, which we are restoring not only to their former glory but also to their dignity.
After decades of military use, the Jagdfeld Gruppe wants to make the Wustrow peninsula usable again for peaceful purposes: sustainable, small-scale and typical for the region. For people who want to live there permanently or temporarily or spend their vacations. And this only on the already built-up area of the “Old Garden City” and “New Garden City”.
Those who develop and operate residential and recreational projects at Germany’s most beautiful destinations on the Baltic Sea have a special responsibility for the natural environment entrusted to them.
We have taken on the responsibility of connecting historic buildings with their long history to the present and safeguarding them for future generations by using state-of-the-art technology and environmentally friendly materials.
The buildings of the so-called string of pearls in Heiligendamm are reconstructed, renovated and erected as far as possible using the historical building fabric. The newly constructed components take into account the requirements of modern building, energy efficiency and consumption. The functionally accurate use and first-class methods of processing high-quality, essentially natural materials guarantee the longevity of the buildings. The use of primary energy such as district heating from a combined heat and power plant has a very high efficiency due to its very good efficiency. Gaps between buildings are closed, thus completing the urban ensemble.
The Jagdfeld Group takes responsibility for the region. For the people who live and work here and for their guests.
For example, Heiligendamm has become almost car-free through the construction of a bypass road and the creation of cycle paths and footpaths. The preservation and maintenance of the spa forest in Heiligendamm by the Jagdfeld Group secures the spa status of Germany’s first seaside resort. The eco-estate farm in Vorder Bollhagen provides people with healthy regional food and ensures a supply of clean drinking water.
That is only about ten percent of the approximately 1,000-hectare peninsula. Since the future houses and apartments are designed to be small-scale and with plenty of greenery, only about 50 hectares will actually be built on. The adjoining 200 hectares of landscape conservation area and 700 hectares of nature reserve will remain untouched.
Until the planned projects are implemented, ECW is doing everything it can in consultation with the environmental and nature conservation authorities to keep the areas free for many rare species of flora and fauna on Wustrow, which would otherwise become overgrown. About 450 sheep and 90 cows and cattle also contribute in a completely natural way to biodiversity and environmental protection on the peninsula. A specially appointed ecosystem manager and ranger ensures that the natural balance of flora and fauna is maintained in the extensive area. This formative control will also be maintained in the planning future in order to provide the best conditions for the rare animal and plant species.
Just how important environmental protection and nature conservation are to the Jagdfeld Group can be seen at first glance in the exemplary Golf and Hotel Resort Wittenbeck showcase project. For example, crayfish, brown trout and char are kept in the resort’s waters. In addition, the extensive lakes are kept clean in a completely natural way by pond mussels, bitterlings and nase (species of fish), all of which are protected.
And on land, Skudden (sheep), German Sparrowhawk (chickens) and Dexter (cattle) – breeds threatened with extinction – cavort. The Golf and Hotel Resort Wittenbeck has also been caring for the increasingly endangered insects for years – with two of its own “insect hotels” and three wild bee areas.
Both golf courses also have in common that golf is played there according to the highest ecological standards. The resort has been committed to active environmental protection and nature conservation for many years. Just one example of many: In the summer of 2022, the resort was awarded the “Gold” seal of the German Golf Association in the category “Environment & Nature” for the fifth time in a row. The Golf- und Hotelresort Wittenbeck was the first golf course in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern to receive the coveted award. Since then, only one facility in MV has received it. And throughout Germany, only ten percent of all 732 golf courses meet this high standard.
Further very extensive details on the environmental aspect of this project can be found on the website: www.golf-resort-wittenbeck.de/golf-natur
Jagdfeld Forestry & Farming
Since 2004, the Jagdfeld Gruppe has been managing the Vorder Bollhagen estate on the Baltic Sea in Mecklenburg completely organically. It is a member of the organic farming association Bioland. In 2009, the Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection awarded a prize for the careful transformation over many years from a farm that was intensively farmed in GDR times to an organic farm. Since then, the Vorder Bollhagen estate has been considered an “organic farming demonstration farm” of the Federal Organic Farming Programme.
500 hectares serve as arable land, 270 hectares as permanent grassland for livestock and for soil recovery. In organic farming, every hectare of farmland is used because it serves a specific purpose within the production chain. To ensure that the soils are not overused and are always naturally enriched with nutrients, it is necessary to maintain coordinated crop rotations.
The aim is always for the farm to be self-sufficient: it should produce in such a way that the animal feed comes entirely from its own production, the ecological balance of the soil remains in equilibrium without the addition of artificial means, and animals and products are available for sale as needed so that the farm can operate economically.
The Vorder Bollhagen estate has an animal husbandry for meat production. In addition to 140 mother cows, 90 ewes and 35 mother goats, there are also 800 laying hens, 180 geese, 200 ducks and 800 broilers on the estate. The cattle, which all graze on the permanent grassland in summer, therefore also contribute to soil enrichment in a natural way. The manure produced in the barn during the winter months is used on the arable land during the growing season. A special feature are the mobile, solar-powered chicken coops, which have been awarded the Förderpreis ökologischer Landbau.
In addition, the community benefits from the renaturation of the Bollhäger Fließ, which is of great importance for regional drinking water production. The area is now classified as a drinking water protection area of the highest category.
The organic farm shop belonging to the estate offers organic beef, sheep and goat meat as well as freshly laid organic eggs, other organic poultry products and organic potatoes from its own production. The range also includes regional organic fruit and vegetables.
Further detailed information: www.gut-vorder-bollhagen.de/oeko-versprechen
Jagdfeld Hospitality
The gastronomic projects of the Jagdfeld Gruppe also benefit greatly from the company’s long-standing philosophy of sustainability. For example, a large part of the value chain of the culinary arts can be sourced from the company’s own controlled organic production.
The INDIA CLUB restaurant’s poultry and lamb are of high organic quality and come mainly from the species-appropriate animal husbandry of the organic farm “Gut Vorder Bollhagen”, which is maintained by the Jagdfeld family, owners of the INDIA CLUB restaurant, the China Club Berlin and MEDINIS, on the Baltic Sea in Mecklenburg near Heiligendamm.
In the members’ club CHINA CLUB BERLIN, chef Tam Kok Kong has been spoiling members and guests since the very beginning with refined Chinese high cuisine with pan-Asian influences, giving traditional Chinese flavours a modern, international twist. He always uses the best ingredients in organic quality: regional vegetables, fish and prawns from wild catches, eggs as well as meat and poultry mainly from species-appropriate husbandry from the “Gut Vorder Bollhagen”.
At its two locations in Heiligendamm and Berlin (here under the umbrella of the CHINA CLUB BERLIN), the MEDINIS restaurant in particular relies mainly on top-quality regional organic products from the multi-award-winning “Gut Vorder Bollhagen”, prepared with the technical perfection and product love of an internationally experienced Italian kitchen team. What cannot be sourced from there and the region comes from selected top suppliers.
Changes in operations, such as the switch to glass straws and biodegradable delivery packaging, are a matter of course.
Jagdfeld Healthcare
Sustainability in the sense of the structured ESG guidelines always takes a holistic view of environmental issues. This deliberately includes the social aspect. Anyone whose profession and passion is the health of people is automatically concerned with this, because he/she feels the daily challenges in this regard at first hand.
As an exclusive private clinic, MEOCLINIC has made it its duty to be socially committed and to help weaker, sick and needy people who, due to their insurance status or personal environment, do not have the same opportunities as the clinic’s patients. This is just as much a part of the MEOCLINIC’s self-image and corporate mission as the first-class medical treatment and care of patients.
Therefore, as part of its social commitment and responsibility, MEOCLINIC supports projects that serve people. Like, for example, the Björn Schulz Foundation Berlin, which was founded in 1996 as the first outpatient children’s hospice service in Germany. Since 2002, there has also been the Sonnenhof, a hospice for children, adolescents and young adults with life-shortening illnesses. The foundation currently accompanies 600 families in Berlin and Brandenburg from the time of diagnosis during the often long course of the illness and beyond the death of the relative with various services and supports the families.
In order to generate donations for the foundation, the popular MEOTeddies are sold at the receptions and in the Guest Relation Lounge of the MEOCLINIC, the entire proceeds of which go to the Björn Schulz Foundation. In addition, donations are collected from doctors, staff and patients at various events.
Jagdfeld Lifestyle
“Think global, act local” characterises the philosophy of Jagdfeld Design. Inspiration and impulses can only come from a global and international perspective, when you are working at the highest, exclusive level of quality.
By working with European companies, delivery routes are nevertheless kept short and emissions reduced. As often as possible and in order to meet the high demands, Jagdfeld Design uses regional resources, in particular regional craftsmanship, for the on-site implementation.
Increasingly, ecological and sustainable surfaces and materials are used. For example, animal imitations such as artificial shagreen leather are used.
Wherever possible, air-conditioning solutions for properties are implemented without the use of costly, energy-intensive and high-maintenance technology.
Journeys to construction sites are predominantly made by CO2-saving train. In addition, sustainable browsers and search engines are used in office activities.