Buildings and Infrastructure

Constructing, maintaining and operating

In Frankfurt KfW staff are spread across ten buildings, most of them along Bockenheimer Landstraße. There are also offices in Bonn and Berlin. In addition to traditional offices, they all contain conference rooms, parking garages, kitchens, canteens, green spaces and much more. Not only did all these facilities once have to be built, they also must be constantly renovated, maintained, cared for and operated.

The Procurement Department handles the purchasing activities required in order to keep business operations going and helps Facility Management by purchasing the corresponding goods and services. These could be painters and mechanics, cleaning staff and gardeners or architects and planners.

The requests associated with building management come from within the bank. The Procurement Department considers itself a strategic partner and advisor to the relevant department and a point of contact for external suppliers. For each requirement it looks for a suitable solution or service that is then put out to tender in accordance with KfW guidelines, with criteria of cost-effectiveness and the high sustainability requirements of KfW

Energy-conscious procurement

KfW operates on a carbon-neutral basis. It buys only certified green electricity for its 4300 staff and seeks to ensure energy efficiency. In all new investment KfW attaches importance to the consideration of innovative developments in building services in order to reduce energy consumption and emissions still further.

Thanks in part to its use of geothermal energy, the Westarkade offices, one of the newest buildings in the “KfW complex”, meets the highest environmental standards of the world. Again, in waste disposal KfW consciously makes use of suppliers from the region in order not to exacerbate “waste tourism”. The list of examples could go on and on.

In the construction segment alone, the Purchasing Department places contracts worth many millions of euros a year and always strives to ensure the best possible service for every requirement at a fair, cost-efficient price.