Nordic Hotel Forum becomes Estonia’s first hotel to receive the BREEAM sustainability certificate
Nordic Hotel Forum, a four-star hotel in the heart of Tallinn, is the first hotel in Estonia to achieve the BREEAM international sustainability certificate and property quality label with the Very Good rating. Following a comprehensive renovation two years ago, the hotel reached a 80% occupancy in 2023.
According to Taavi Ojala, Chairman of the Board of Kapitel, the real estate company that owns the hotel building, the Nordic Hotel Forum renovation project is one of the largest investments in the sector since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. “Making significant renovations during the period of restrictions, and reopening the hotel with a fresh and competitive concept once the pandemic subsided, proved to be the right decision. As property owners, we prioritise sustainability and environmental integrity, principles that are also essential for the hotel’s operator and customers. Therefore, obtaining the certification was a logical step. Despite the challenges faced by the hotel industry, we are delighted with the hotel’s performance this year,” says Ojala.
Feliks Mägus, Chairman of the Nordic Hotel Forum Board, fully endorses the sustainability investments: “Enhancing the building’s energy efficiency will enable us, as the hotel operator, to substantially reduce costs and minimise our environmental footprint. Sustainable solutions allow us to meet the demands of both our customers and the market, resulting in increased satisfaction among both customers and employees.”
The certification process, conducted by Tepsli, awarded the Nordic Hotel Forum the BREEAM In-Use rating of Very Good, positioning it among the highest-certified buildings in Estonia. The assessment covered nine categories: management, health and wellbeing, energy, transport, water, resources, resilience, land use and ecology, and pollution. Notably, there were three categories in which Nordic Hotel Forum particularly excelled: health and wellbeing, energy, and transport. This confirms that the building offers optimal conditions for both staff and visitors. The energy category encompasses the use of environmentally friendly district heating, extensive lighting system renovations, and building automation. The high score in the transport category is credited to the building’s excellent city centre location, the favourable conditions provided for cyclists, and the installation of electric vehicle chargers.
Nordic Hotel Forum is a superior four-star business and conference hotel in central Tallinn, Estonia, which boasts 258 rooms. It is a member of World Hotels, a global marketing chain for independent hotels. Nordic Hotels OÜ, an Estonian-owned company, operates the hotel under a long-term lease.
Kapitel (www.kapitel.ee/en) is one of the largest real estate companies in the Baltics, with a portfolio of more than 250,000 sq m of rentable premises, most of which have received sustainability certificates. The company owns four office buildings (Delta Plaza and Sõpruse Office Building in Tallinn, Narbuto 5 in Vilnius, and I.P. Pavlova 5 in Prague) and holds shares in four shopping centres (Spice and Spice Home in Riga, Panorama in Vilnius, and Viru Keskus in Tallinn). Additionally, the company owns Nordic Hotel Forum (operated by Nordic Hotels OÜ) and, in partnership with Infortar AS, co-owns Tallink City Hotel (operated by Tallink Hotels). Kapitel also holds shares in Kapitel Logistics OÜ, the owner of two logistics centres on Tallinn Ring Road.