The future belongs to energy efficient homes

Experts told the conference participants about the Green Zoom standard. This is a new real estate valuation system developed by the Committee on Energy Efficiency and Sustainable Development of the Russian Guild of Managers and Developers. Green Zoom is a professional certification standard in Russia, which is an analogue of foreign Leed and Breeam systems. It includes the most suitable requirements for Russia, which are adapted for the construction of buildings. "Breeam is more suitable for residential and social facilities, Leed is more suitable for commercial ones," explained Evgeny Teslya, Deputy General Director for Sustainable Development at Bureau of Technology.

In his report, he spoke in detail about the assessment of the economics of environmentally friendly projects using mathematical modeling, which makes it possible to estimate future operating costs even at the design stage. Such calculations make it possible to determine which building systems can be upgraded to reduce operating costs. In particular, solar loads were assessed for the Lakhta Center project (a skyscraper under construction in St. Petersburg), which will be certified according to the LEED system. The proposed solutions will allow saving investments in the project up to 900 thousand dollars only by optimizing the cooling system.

In Yekaterinburg, the first facility to be certified according to the Green Zoom standard is the Patrushikhinsky Ponds Integrated Development project. One of the high-rise office buildings in the city, the President Business Center (20 floors, 82 meters), is preparing to receive an environmental certificate. According to the GBA representatives, it takes into account many categories of the LEED building certification system. The President will easily receive points for location, transport accessibility and environmental friendliness. I believe that the President Business Center will be able to confirm compliance with the requirements of the LEED standard if it applies for it," says Janelle Everly, Program Director of the Green Building Alliance.

Guy Eames, CEO of the Council for Environmental Construction in Russia (RuGBC), noted Yekaterinburg's great potential in terms of "green" certification of buildings: "Yekaterinburg already has several companies with which we are working on various projects. We are pleased that the city is moving in this progressive direction and is actively applying energy-efficient engineering solutions in construction."

A more detailed and expanded discussion of eco-certification of high-rise buildings is planned at the 100+ Forum Russia 2015 high-rise and Unique construction forum as part of the thematic section "Green High-rise Construction. An energy-intensive skyscraper."