Alexander Kolubkov on 100+ Forum Russia

On September 24-26, 2014, the Hyatt Regency Yekaterinburg hosted the international 100+ Forum Russia, dedicated to the design, construction, financing and operation of high-rise buildings, bringing together 1,270 professional participants from Russia, Brazil, China, Korea, the USA, Germany, France, Great Britain, Belgium and other countries.

The forum discussed global trends in high-rise construction, the state and prospects of the industry in Russia, and held a master class on engineering equipment for high-rise buildings.

One of the participants of the event, Alexander Nikolaevich Kolubkov, Vice President of NP AVOK, Director of PPF AK LLC, an expert with more than forty years of experience in designing engineering systems, whose portfolio includes work on projects for the Triumph Palace and Scarlet complexes, tells about the most interesting events of the program and the results of the forum. sails", "Vorobyovy Gory", "House on Mosfilmovskaya", "Tricolor" and other objects.

— Alexander Nikolaevich, good afternoon! How relevant are the topics discussed at the 100+ Forum Russia?

— High—rise urban development is a characteristic feature of a strong modern state. It indicates a high level of development of construction technologies, good training of designers, readiness of the material and technical base. For the 100+ Forum Russia, the World Council on High-Rise Buildings and Urban Habitat (CouncilonTallBuildingsandUrbanHabitat, CTBUH) conducted a study of Russian skyscrapers. According to this study, 101 high-rise buildings above 100 meters have been built in our country today. In addition to Moscow and Yekaterinburg, such facilities have been built and are being operated in St. Petersburg, Grozny, Krasnogorsk, Samara, Volgograd, Krasnoyarsk, Sochi and Kazan. The engineering systems of 23 of these 101 buildings were designed by PPF AK LLC. However, there could be disproportionately more high-rise buildings if there were no obstacles in the way of high-rise construction in Russia. The industry is experiencing a shortage of regulatory and technical documentation. The development of advanced construction technologies and engineering support for high-rise buildings is slow, as the previously existing system of Central Research Institute and educational centers has been destroyed, and enthusiasts, who, alas, can be counted on their fingers, are engaged in educational work.…

— How did the 100+ Forum Russia contribute to solving these problems?

— One of the main outcomes of the forum is the establishment of a Competence Center for High—rise Construction in Russia in Yekaterinburg. Its main task is to improve the quality, safety and economic efficiency of high—rise construction by generalizing and implementing domestic and international experience. In addition, the forum reviewed the draft roadmap "Improving the business climate in the construction of unique buildings and structures, including high-rise residential and public buildings." The main objectives of the roadmap are to reduce the total time and cost of administrative procedures for the implementation of high—rise projects, and simplify the organization of construction. Currently, high-rise buildings are designed according to special technical specifications (CTS), which takes a lot of time and requires significant costs from developers. Standard STUS will be created, the use of which will greatly facilitate the work of designers and builders. Most of the roadmap's activities are planned to be completed by 2016. By this date, the Russian Ministry of Construction intends to develop regulatory and technical documentation for high-rise construction. This statement was made at the 100+ Forum Russia by Elena Sierra, Deputy Minister of Construction and Housing of the Russian Federation.

— As far as I know, the national associations of builders and designers NOSTROI and NOP have been working for several years to create regulatory documentation, including on high—rise construction. Can the standards they have issued form the basis of documents at the federal level?..

— Such work has indeed been going on for several years and, I must say, it has been very fruitful. A wide range of specialists in various fields of knowledge is involved in the development of standards. All documents are publicly discussed, and not a single comment goes unanswered. Within the framework of the 100+ Forum Russia, we presented the standards of the organization developed in the structure of NOSTRA and NOP with our direct participation, which were received by the guests with undisguised joy and approval. In the context of a regulatory vacuum, their appearance is simply necessary. First of all, we are talking about the following standards: STO NOSTROY 2.15.70–2012 "Engineering networks of high-rise buildings. Installation of heat supply, heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration systems"; STO NOSTROY 2.15.71– 2012 "Engineering networks of high-rise buildings. Installation of water supply, sanitation and water fire extinguishing systems"; STO NOSTROY 2.15.72–2012 "Engineering networks of high-rise buildings. Installation of electrical equipment, automation and dispatching systems". These documents have been published and are valid. They are recommended for use by Rostechnadzor. The interstate code of rules "Engineering systems of high-rise buildings", prepared on the basis of these standards, was also presented. The main focus of this document is on the design of heat supply, heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration systems for buildings. Unfortunately, this set of rules has not been published, despite the fact that it has already passed all the stages of preparation, including discussion. The fact is that this document was prepared in the system of the recently abolished Ministry of Regional Development. Today, the Ministry of Construction performs the functions of the Ministry of Regional Development in terms of developing regulatory documentation, and this ministry will prepare a similar joint venture or recommendations by 2016. It is difficult to say whether the new standard will be made from scratch, or whether our document will be adopted as a basis. From the point of view of common sense, it would be logical to follow the second path.

— Alexander Nikolaevich, you were one of the authors of a master class on engineering equipment for high-rise buildings held within the framework of the forum. Was Audi interested in this event?

— Our company has designed engineering systems for more than 30 high-rise residential complexes with a total area of more than two and a half million square meters, including engineering systems for the Triumph Palace Moscow skyscraper, which until 2007 was the tallest residential building in Europe, and the Scarlet Sails residential complex on the banks of the Moskva River. 8 of the 20 top skyscrapers of the capital are equipped according to our designs. Therefore, it is not surprising that within the framework of the 100+ Forum Russia, we were invited to hold a master class on engineering equipment for high-rise buildings, which brought together more than 220 students from various cities of Russia (primarily from the Urals and Siberia) and lasted more than 8 hours. As part of the master class, we talked about the features of heat supply systems, heating, ventilation, air conditioning and fire protection of high-rise buildings. The topics discussed at the master class were interesting and close to the audience. The designers came to the master class well prepared, it was felt that many of them had previously attended seminars and other educational events of AVOC, which we regularly hold throughout the country.

— Tell us about the engineering systems and examples of their implementation, which were discussed at the master class?

— The discussion about ventilation systems of high-rise buildings turned out to be very interesting. Traditionally, multi-storey houses in the Ural region and Siberia are equipped with natural ventilation systems. However, this solution is not suitable for high—rise construction: a skyscraper with natural ventilation is like a skyscraper without ventilation. Residents' complaints are secured! In our opinion, the correct technical solution, and the participants of the master class agreed with this, is to equip the building with energy-efficient centralized or apartment-by-apartment mechanical supply and exhaust ventilation, which most fully meets the requirements of the technical regulations on building safety (FZ-384). Similar projects have already been implemented, including in Moscow. The practice of operating these buildings has shown that there are no complaints about poor ventilation in this case. Moreover, ventilation based on apartment-by—apartment supply and exhaust air systems with plate heat exchangers is one of the most economical ways to ventilate apartments, allowing for comfortable living conditions in accordance with the capabilities and needs of their owners. The experience of heat supply to high-rise buildings was considered using the example of the Iset tower in the center of Yekaterinburg. The tower has a roof boiler room and its own apartment heating system, which is not connected to the city grid. Each apartment has its own block heating point, to which a horizontal heating system, a system of underfloor heating, and hot water are connected. It is characteristic that the traditional hot water supply system in the Iset tower is not installed, since hot water is prepared in each specific dwelling. It is economical and convenient. Energy resources are accounted for with the utmost possible accuracy, since the block heating station is equipped with its own metering devices. An interesting presentation turned out to be a technical solution that allows buildings up to 200 m high and even slightly higher to be serviced using an ITP located at its base. This scheme is very different from the technical solutions replicated in Asian countries, for example, in South Korea. 12 years of experience in using the proposed scheme in constructed buildings has shown that it works flawlessly and is very economical at the same time.

— The cost of the equipment used to implement such technical solutions is quite high, since this equipment is mostly European. Is it worth saving on "engineering" for skyscrapers?

— Austerity on engineering equipment is hardly justified, especially for companies that not only build buildings, but also operate them. Moreover, in the structure of the cost per square meter of business-class housing, which ranges from 15 thousand dollars and above, the share of supply and exhaust mechanical ventilation rarely exceeds 5-7 dollars. Nevertheless, there is a definite tendency to reduce the cost of engineering equipment for high—rise buildings today - developers save on everything, as they often work in very harsh conditions. I think that if the EU and US sanctions are not lifted soon, we will be forced to gradually switch to equipment from China and other friendly countries. You should not be afraid of high-quality Chinese equipment today. I visit Chinese factories every year, and I see how production facilities are changing, and the very approach of manufacturers from China to their business is being modernized.

— The issue of sanctions and their impact on the Russian HVAC R market is a topic for a separate article. As for the 100+ Forum Russia, what do you think: do the Ural region and Siberia have prospects in terms of high-rise construction?

— Absolutely. Yekaterinburg, Ufa, Chelyabinsk, Omsk, Krasnoyarsk, Novosibirsk, Vladivostok are the cities that are being intensively built up today. Even on a larger scale than St. Petersburg. Serious investors who support this market work in these cities. It is beneficial for them to support this market. After all, they are building for their citizens, for Russians.

The interview was recorded in the Creative Workshop of Vladislav Balashov