WO2: Best Sustainable Property Developer France 2023

WO2 is on a mission to clean up France’s building practices, which account for nearly a third of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions. Since its launch in 2014, WO2 has pioneered the low-carbon development of French residential, office, hospitality and retail properties. The group creates inviting structures using cross-laminated timber, bio-sourced and recycled materials, low-consumption technologies and renewable energies. Compared with conventional concrete, WO2’s sustainably sourced Arboretum structures reduced the carbon footprint by 47 percent over four years. WO2 aims to halve its carbon footprint again by 2027. WO2 has delivered or committed to 61 projects and 720,000 square metres of real estate. It manages a €1.2bn budget and forecasts €5.4bn in office and residential revenue. In 2019, WO2 launched the ICAWOOD fund, a €750m equity fund dedicated to the low-carbon development of Parisian office buildings. WO2 is driven by an innovative R&D department, and engineers make up half of the WO2 workforce. In 2021, WO2 was recognised as France’s first low-carbon contracting authority by the Association for the Development of Low Carbon Buildings (BBCA), a French agency that calculates the carbon footprint of new and renovated buildings based on a life-cycle analysis. The group earned its first BBCA label in 2016 and its first European Low Carbon Building Initiative label in 2023. The CFI.co judging panel believes the group is building on a solid foundation for a low-carbon future and announces WO2 as the 2023 award winner for Best Sustainable Property Developer (France).