The tenth edition of MAPIC Italy concluded with record-breaking results at the Rho Fiera Milano venue, reaffirming the event's central role as Italy's leading platform dedicated to retail and commercial real estate. The event attracted over 2,200 participants and saw a significant increase in retailers, brands, and exhibitors, redefining the dynamics of a market increasingly oriented towards internationalization and the integration of sustainable development criteria. In this highly competitive scenario, ESTPRO GROUP—leveraging over twenty years of experience in enhancing corporate real estate assets—attended the event, presenting a unique integrated strategy that combines transactional consulting with energy efficiency.
Thanks to the internal synergy between REMAX Commercial ESTPRO (focused on location scouting and transactional advisory through a global network present in over 140 countries) and ESTPRO (specialized in redevelopment, energy management, and technical due diligence), the Group demonstrated how regulatory constraints related to ESG criteria can be transformed into genuine competitive advantages for real estate ownership. "The extraordinary numbers of this MAPIC confirm that the commercial real estate market is undergoing a profound transformation," stated Diego Favarato, CEO of ESTPRO GROUP. "Today, investors and major brands are no longer simply seeking a physical space but an efficient, resilient, and profitable real estate ecosystem. Our strength lies in offering a single point of contact and a single technical chain of responsibility: we integrate energy, facility, and property management services from day one, ensuring clients lower operational costs, rapid openings, and certified data ready for the group's ESG reporting."
Regulatory transition as a financial lever: the Building Energy Value model
The core of the technical debate at the event shifted to the topics of asset adaptation and sustainability within the Arena (Digital & Sustainability Area), where ESTPRO's Technical Director, Eng. Fabio Minchio, PhD, delivered a keynote focused on overcoming regulatory obligations in favor of asset enhancement.
At the center of Minchio's presentation was the imminent deadline of the EU Directive 2023/1791 (EED) on large assets, which sets the mandatory threshold for Energy Audits for consumption exceeding 10 TJ by October 11, 2026, and the obligation to adopt the ISO 50001 system for consumption over 85 TJ by October 11, 2027. "Retrofit and plant adaptation should not be passively viewed as mere legal obligations," explained Eng. Fabio Minchio. "On the contrary, they represent the greatest opportunity to protect real estate portfolios against energy price volatility and asset devaluation, generating the so-called Green Premium. Through our Building Energy Value model, we apply an entirely data-driven approach that allows retail and GDO properties to maintain total control over consumption and eliminate plant waste even during store downtime."
The holistic approach in practice: real KPIs of efficiency in Retail
Translating the high theoretical profile into operational and measurable results is Eng. Anna Sarti, Energy Engineer at ESTPRO, who illustrated the application of the holistic approach on real cases related to GDO and retail chains. Using the KPIs of a typical store built in the early 2000s with obsolete HVAC systems positioned on the roof for over twenty years as a reference, ESTPRO demonstrated the economic benefits achievable with a coordinated intervention plan. "The comprehensive analysis of the asset and the site's energy profile allows us to map the real intervention priorities," specified Eng. Anna Sarti. "In the analyzed typical case, the targeted replacement of HVAC and refrigeration systems alone generated a 20% savings on air conditioning with the same building envelope. This is complemented by an additional 3% savings achieved solely through the optimization and proper programming of the building management systems (BMS)."
The impact of these interventions extends beyond bill reduction. As highlighted by the Group's data, access to state incentives such as the Conto Termico allows covering approximately 45% of the initial investment, while the installation of self-consumption photovoltaic systems can also benefit from hyper-amortization tax regimes in addition to ensuring the use of renewable energy. The final result is a property valuation increase of +10% on the asset value, with a significant improvement in the company's overall sustainability balance.
The public success and high interest observed at the commercial tables and the ESTPRO GROUP Pod at MAPIC Italy 2026 confirm that the integration of transactional, engineering, and management skills represents the only path capable of guiding Real Estate towards a truly profitable future fully compliant with international standards.