Carmila Cap Saran Achieves BREEAM In-Use Excellent

Carmila’s Cap Saran shopping centre in France has achieved a BREEAM In Use Excellent rating, reflecting major upgrades in energy, water, waste and resilience performance.

Overview

Cap Saran, a long-established retail destination owned and operated by Carmila, has undergone a wide-ranging sustainability transformation. Guided by the BREEAM In-Use framework, Carmila implemented targeted improvements in efficiency, resilience and operational performance. The result is a more sustainable, future-ready asset achieving a BREEAM In-Use Excellent rating with a score of 75.5%.

About

Carmila designs shopping centres that are accessible, scalable and aligned with local communities, aiming to improve the daily experience of both retailers and customers. Cap Saran is one of the company’s flagship assets for demonstrating progress against its sustainability strategy.

Across its portfolio, Carmila continues to integrate sustainability into the way its centres are developed and managed. By prioritising energy efficiency, enhancing customer wellbeing and strengthening relationships with local stakeholders, the company aims to create retail environments that remain vibrant, resilient and future-ready.

Background

Located in Saran, France, Cap Saran is a retail asset more than 50 years old, with parts of the building still in their original state. Carmila recognised the need to modernise the shopping centre and embed sustainability into long-term operations. The company prioritised energy efficiency, water performance, waste management and dedicated studies to better understand the site's challenges.

Challenges

The principal challenge stemmed from the building's age. Retrifitting a mature shopping centre required carefu lcoordination to respect the existing structure while improving performance. Maintaining operational continuity and architectura lidentity was central to the approach taken by Carmila and its partners.

Solutions

Energy Efficiency: Carmila replaced ageing HVAC rooftop units from 2007 that previously operated on high-GWP R-410A refrigerant. The new units, charged with ultra-low-GWP R290 refrigerant (GWP ≈ 3), provide heating, cooling and ventilation to the gallery. They feature CO₂ sensors to regulate indoor air quality and ensure optimal comfort and controlled energy use

Water Efficiency: In 2025, Carmila reviewed and replaced sanitary fittings to improve water flow performance. Visitor water dispensers were installed to provide potable water access. Leakage detection systems were added and are now actively monitored by the property manager to identify and address abnormal consumption quickly.

Waste Management: Waste streams are now segregated, with cardboard, wood and routine industrial waste stored separately in sealed, non-absorbent, leak-proof containers. These changes reflect Carmila’s evolving waste management policies and commitment to improving recycling and waste handling across its assets.

Environmental and Technical Studies: Carmila commissioned several studies to guide ongoing improvement, including an ecological study, future adaptation study, resources inventory, condition survey, lighting study and flood risk assessment. These studies have provided a long-term roadmap for resilience and operational excellence.

Carmila – Cap Saran Achieves BREEAM In-Use Excellent

Benefits

Impact of BREEAM: BREEAM In Use provided a comprehensive technical framework that shaped Carmila’s sustainable refurbishment strategy. The certification process informed decisions on retrofitting, equipment replacement and ongoing operational management. Learnings from Cap Saran are now embedded in Carmila’s broader portfolio approach, ensuring consistency across future projects.

Added Value to the Asset and Portfolio: Achieving a 75.5% score in Part 1 represents one of Carmila’s highest ratings to date and validates significant improvements made over recent years. It reinforces the credibility of Carmila’s sustainability strategy at both asset and portfolio level, boosting confidence among retailers, visitors and investors.

Stakeholder Reflections: Elodie Arcayna, Chief Communications & CSR Officer, Carmila, highlighted that Cap Saran demonstrates how a mature shopping centre can be transformed into a highly efficient, future-ready asset showing tangible progress on energy, water, waste and resilience.

Cap Saran shows how a mature shopping centre can be transformed into a highly efficient and future-ready asset. BREEAM In-Use has helped us turn our sustainability ambition into concrete actions on energy, water, waste and resilience. It is a strong signal to our retailers, visitors and investors that Carmila is firmly committed to operating more sustainable retail destinations.

– Elodie Arcayna, Chief Communications & CSR Officer, Carmila

The certification level, achieved in 2025 for the Cap Saran retail asset, illustrates the commitment demonstrated by the Carmila’s teams vs their overall CSR policy, and more specifically their involvement to certifying their owned and managed assets under the "BREEAM In-Use" standard. The “Excellent” level achieved for Cap Saran for “Asset part” attests the quality of the intrinsic and operational management performed by Carmila to better improve the sustainability of their assets on a daily basis to reduce their environmental impacts and linked risks.

– Chloé Galet, Project Manager and Assessor, Bopro France

Cap Saran is an example of energy renovation that will inspire our future projects. The important thing for us is to advance our CSR strategy with practical actions that enable us to take effective action. BREEAM In-Use certification allows us to enhance the value of our assets and commit ourselves to developing our assets in a more sustainable way over time.

– Thomas Farfal, Head of CSR at Carmila

Summary

Cap Saran stands as a prime example of how an ageing retail building can be successfully retrofitted to meet modern sustainability expectations. Through energy, water and waste upgrades, combined with evidence-based studies and operational improvements, Carmila has transformed Cap Saran into a more resilient and environmentally responsible asset underpinned by its BREEAM In Use Excellent achievement.

Project Title: BREEAM In Use Rating of Excellent for Cap Saran
Location: Saran 45770, France
Building Type: Retail asset
BREEAM Standard & Version: BREEAM International In Use: Commercial Version 6
BREEAM Rating: Excellent – 75.5%
Certificate Number: BIU00004196-3.0
Developer / Client: Carmila
Assessor Organisation: Bopro France
Assessor: Chloé Galet