Details of the 20-21 February conference are here.

Last fall, MEP Claude Turmes (the Rapporteur assigned in the European Parliament to lead the negotiations on this file) came with a much clearly defined legislative proposal on the binding measures to be implemented by the Member States in order to achieve the voluntary 20% energy efficiency target. The measures that have most impact on the building industry are the ones regarding the 3% yearly renovation target for public buildings (Art.4) and the Energy Efficiency Obligation Schemes that Member States have to put in place (Art.6).    The European Parliament (through its Rapporteur, MEP Claude Turmes) came with some significant changes that could transform the Directive in a powerful policy that would create jobs and stimulate green growth.

Why is the proposal of MEP Claude Turmes, more powerful?

It introduces a new article on Member States having to set in place financial facilities to aggregate multiple streams of financing, which would be the major source of funding for implementing the measures in the Directive. The article is essential since without securing proper funding, the implementation of the measures at the national level and the Directive’s potential for creating jobs and trigger innovation are questionable.

For the section on public buildings renovation ( Art.3a and Art.4) MEP Claude Turmes’ Draft Report:

• Sets as general objective for the Member States – to reduce by 31 Dec. 2050 the energy consumption of the existing building stock by 80% compared to the 2010 levels
• Member States should submit by January 2014 national plans that should include:
  • A record of buildings differentiated by category
  • Deep renovation targets for 2020, 2030,2050 differentiated per category of buildings (all buildings are included, not just the public owned)
• Priority  for deep and staged deep renovation should have:
  • Residential and commercial buildings with worst energy performance
  • Buildings that are owned or occupied by public authorities
• In order to implement the plans Member States shall ensure that starting with January 2014 at least 3% of the total floor area owned or occupied by public bodies is subject annually to deep or staged deep renovation (where deep renovation is defined as refurbishment that reduces both the delivered and the final energy consumption with at least 75%  and staged deep renovation  is a refurbishment that reduces in stages the delivered and final energy consumption of a building by a total of at least 75% during a normal renovation cycle, while ensuring that any stage does not preclude or increase the costs of subsequent stages)

Another important provision is also the one on Energy Efficiency Obligation Schemes – the supplier obligations.  According to the European Commission’s proposal Member States are supposed to set up an energy efficiency obligation scheme. This would oblige either all retailers or all energy distributors to annually save an amount of energy which equals 1,5% of their totally energy sales by volume in the previous year, but there are opt-out clauses. In his proposal, the Rapporteur wants the introduction of energy saving obligation schemes that would ensure that energy distributors and/or retail energy sales companies achieve cumulative annual end-use energy savings of at least 1.5% of their annual sales. The savings should be additional and to already existing programs and implemented measures and be accomplished among the final consumers.  Also Member States should ensure that the yearly energy savings of the obligated parties are achieved for at least 50% through long term saving measures such as deep renovation of buildings.

Next steps:

The European Parliament is expected to adopt its final position on the Energy Efficiency Directive in April. However the most challenging part will be the negotiations with the Council of Ministers (that represents the voice of national governments) that are supposed to happen also in the next coming months.

What do you think about the proposed measures for buildings? Will they stimulate the market? 

Do you see the deep renovation  and staged deep renovation standard (as they are defined now) achievable for public buildings in Romania?

Looking forward for feedback and opinions….

Anca Bieru

The new 2,5 million euro development will be an extension of Star Food’s existing manufacturing and will include a finished products warehouse, in connection with the existing facility, an expediting area, and office and employee welfare areas, totaling approximately 4, 500 sq m.

The new warehouse area features state-of-the-art logistic center technologies including high bay rack storage and ESFR25 sprinklers, and T5 fluorescent lighting with photocell control. Additionally, the project includes upgrades to the fire water supply and protection systems for the entire manufacturing campus, a new guard house, new truck scale and truck maneuvering areas.

Randy Tharp, Managing Director of Epstein Architecture & Engineering

“This new facility will contribute to the further development and expansion of Star Foods in Romania. Our architects and engineers have designed the new facility focusing on the functionality of the building from logistics operations perspective while maintaining close attention to keeping the project within the investment goals,” declared Randy Tharp, Managing Director of Epstein Architecture & Engineering.  “Our extensive logistic experience in the U.S. and Poland leads us to successfully apply the latest approaches and methods to similar projects here in Romania.”

Epstein is a Chicago-based architecture, engineering and construction company, active on the Romanian market for more than five years, developing successful projects for international clients like Lufkin Industries (manufacturing facility of 35,470 sq m located on an approximately 33.32 hectare site within the Ploiesti West Park in Romania), Cameron (12,500 sq m manufacturing and office facility in Ploiesti), Emerson (6,500 sq m production facility with an additional 1,800 sq m of office space completed in mid 2010, in Cluj Napoca), WDP Development (6,000 sq m automotive plastic injection molding plant for Röchling-Automotive in Oarja), and Petrom.

For nearly 90 years, Epstein has been associated with landmark design and engineering projects throughout the world. Epstein is a founding member of the ROGBC (Romania Green Building Council), providing sustainable design, engineering and construction solutions for clients in the commercial, industrial and public sector.

Star Foods is the Romanian snack food division of PepsiCo International and this facility produces Lays Potato Chips and Star brand popcorn, nuts, and other snacks foods.

PepsiCo entered the Romanian market in 2004, acquiring the market leader of potato chips, the company Star Foods, present in Romania since 1993. Thus, PepsiCo became one of the most important players, within snacks market in Romania.

Congratulations and good luck going forward!

Cristina Siu

—–

Epstein has been a leader in the area of Sustainable Design and LEED Certification. Epstein currently has 28 LEED Certified projects and 28 LEED projects pending. Our LEED Certified projects account for over 1% of all LEED Certified projects in the world by with a total area of 1,432,548 sq m (15,419,810 square feet).

There were 22 nominations made and 6 prizes awarded. The Best Green Building Policy was awarded to the city of San Francisco for the “San Francisco Green Building Ordinances” – considered to be the strictest, most ambitious and most comprehensive policy approach to the build environment yet undertaken by any US city.

The main tool used by the city to encourage green building development/ rehabilitation is  the implementation of very strict standards  for energy, water management, recycling. All municipal buildings have to attain LEED Gold Certification, while private buildings (new commercial and residential) must meet LEED or California-based Green Point rated standards. Certification for private buildings is not mandatory, but projects committing to LEED Gold receive priority in permitting queues.  The performance of existing building stock is addressed through requirements for annual public disclosure of energy label, energy audits every 5 years, water efficiency retrofits at time of sale and mandatory  recycling and composting. Financing mechanisms such as Green FinanceSF Pace program, were also put in place to assist building owners with implementing the policies.

Birmingham from UK received  the Urban Retrofit Award, being the only European city from the several nominated to get an official prize. Birmingham City Council’s Energy Savers Program demonstrates how the famous UK Green Deal initiative is implemented at the city level .The Green Deal will allow householders to improve energy efficiency in their homes and pay off the costs of this measures from savings made on energy bills over time. Birmingham’s Energy Savers Program has as an immediate objective to fund the energy efficiency improvements of 15.000 houses and 40 public buildings by 2015, but the program is expected to lead to green retrofit for 200,000 buildings in the next 15 years. The green retrofits will include installation of energy efficiency measures and renewable solutions, and the target beneficiaries will be mostly the households from Birmingham affected by fuel poverty (spending more than 10% of their monthly income on energy bills). The program is expected to create over 60,000 green jobs at the local level – from installation engineers to designers etc.

WorldGBC made available a special report where you can find details on the other cities that received awards and the ones that were nominated. You can find out :

• how did Tokyo implement the world’s first Carbon Trading Scheme for reducing CO2 emissions from large commercial and industrial buildings
• details on the New York’s Greener Greater Buildings Plan – the set of policies that deals with reducing energy and water consumption in city’s largest existing buildings
• how Mexico City’s integrated policy – Climate Action Plan 2008-2012 – is supposed to reduce the city’s green house gas emissions with 12% by 2012
• what are the other European cities nominated for their ambitious local policies

…any many other details in the report here and on World GBC website here.

Also, if RoGBC was to nominate a city from Romania for the Leadership Awards in 2012, which city would you suggest us to pick?

Looking forward for your feedback!

Anca Bieru

The first Phase of the project took place between the middle of October and December 8^th and had the main objective of remodeling the ground floor of the building in a flexible and green manner. The Romania Green Building Council is the venue that places everyone involved in the sustainable market under the same roof : students taking part at the “Romania Green Building Professional” Certification and Training platform, green building professionals  but also companies willing to showcase their newest sustainable products. Therefore, the existing space must be able to receive events with a lot of guests. This is meant to be a lively and comfortable space where people of various ages and professions gather to share information about a different kind of architecture, the environmentally responsible one.

The two stories (plus loft) villa on Ialomicioarei street is a mix of fragments of different ages. The oldest part of the building, dating  back in the 40’s, is comprised of two rooms situated two steps higher than the rest of the ground floor. The metal door used to be an exterior access until the ‘90s extension of the house and the window used to bring light into the space. However, at the beginning of the project, the former access room worked poorly as a kitchen without sink and the other room served only as a passing space to the other parts of the house. The RoGBC intervention proposed changing the layout of the entire area. Each of the two rooms got a separate access, the old kitchen became a new office/meeting room and the bigger room became a kitchen/dining table that opens towards the event room.

The project was developed based on the “Cradle-to-Cradle” principle, so each building element had to be integrated in a new life cycle in order to achieve a better waste management. For example, the architectural decision to create a new access for the future kitchen has translated itself into opportunities to reuse the on-site resources. The bricks that made up the window battlement were carefully deconstructed, piece by piece and rebuilt in order to form the new structure of the stairs, and the window placed horizontally becomes the new office reception.

The ceilings of the two small rooms were made with the traditional formula of wood strips covered in plaster and clay reinforced with cane. This mixture was used as a filler, it was watered and compressed in order to create the new access platform.

The wood strips that supported the ceiling were recovered,  existing nails were removed, strips were planed, treated and integrally reused. Some of them have become the pillars of the stair case connecting the ground floor with the first floor, respectively the first basement level with the ground floor and the rest make up the RoGBC “Christmas Tree” made with recovered nails and a metal pipe found in the attic, so all materials are local.

Our wish was to open-up the environment of the RoGBC’s office towards more optimistic approaches, closer to the organization’s goal. The solution chosen to cover the floor was the Tarkett linoleum provided by EPA System, which represents a successful combination between traditional materials – rapeseed oil, jute, natural resins and cork – and contemporary demands related to mechanical resistance and aspect. The existing laminated flooring, reddish color, was carefully removed, cleaned and partially donated, and partially reused. After leveling the support substrate with a self leveling screed, the Veneto xf linoleum was installed in all rooms.

The new visual identity of the event hall was however accomplished by not only introducing some radically new elements but also by the transfiguration of the existing furniture (covering with removable wrappers of different colors) and by positioning it within a different layout.

For the wall finishes we used the white skim TF1000 provided by Tassullo, as this was chosen due to its properties of adjusting the humidity in accordance to the environment and allowing the walls to breath.  The skim “Malta Fina” is a finish prepared of dead-lime and selected inert materials, with a maximum aggregate grading of 0,5 mm, for finishing the interior plasters based on hydraulic binders.

In the events area, and also in the meeting room, Hunter Douglas proposed an acoustic false ceiling made by aluminum elements with various sizes, harmonized with each other.

The two rooms with a changed function were the subject of a full rearrange. After freeing the ceiling from the clay and cane load, the wood beams that were discovered represented an aesthetically pleasing surprise. As the specialists from the structural engineering company Strucon Proiect evaluated the wood beams as being safe, it was decided to keep their appearance. Cleaned, planed and vanished in a good manner, the beams are telling a part of the history of the house.

The two doors – from which one is replacing the old one, while the second one is a new step in the house circuit –were chosen in such a way to allow the access of the natural light, and also to protect the intimacy of the interior spaces from the events area. The two sliding partitions provided by Etem Building Solutions are made by tempered glass and aluminum structure, an easily removed and recycled assembly at the end of life cycle of the elements.

Both rooms received a significant technological upgrade. In the kitchen, Electrolux took part on the project by donating the energy efficient home appliances from the Green range. Moreover, new lightning devices were proposed through the project realized by Eng. Dorin Beu from B-lightning and provided by Phillips for the whole surface of the ground floor.

New electrical circuits, and also traditional elements (sockets, switches, cable trays) were necessary for powering up all these. The company that offered the optimal solution was Schneider Electrics, and that implements an intelligent system for automating the electrical network in the whole building, starting with the 2^nd phase of the project.

The kitchen won a sink an aerator filter and the possibility of metering the water flow, which saves water use, but the innovation doesn’t stop there. A cabinet was made by associate members and RoGBC employees using less conventional materials. Parquet strips recovered from the floor coming from the event room were “covered” in cardboard measuring 2,5 mm (100% recycled) and painted here and there. This sandwich was then cut by a model, and the resulted pieces were merged together by the traditional process of interlocking using as additional stiffening elements some wood strips recovered from the former kitchen ceiling. Both the adhesive that served as binder and the paint are products provided by the company Kerakoll.

The new paintings are works signed by Ruxandra Raileanu, who chose in order to create them a theme inspired by the world of biology and natural materials.

In terms of decoration, RoGBC team has shown creativity and thinking outside the box. Until delivering the final solution for lighting, the lamps in the kitchen and the new office had to be protected, so it came the idea of manufacturing an exclusive shade made by using the materials that we already had there. Thus, we made a lamp from several Igloo magazine issues, and it still allows us to read the articles. The other shade was improvised from some reinforcing fabric mesh used to plaster the facades (provided by building team leader from Select Mandexim) and some dishes made from corn starch, common in RoGBC properties.

The decorations for the Christmas tree were also exclusively made from paper surplus found in our office coming from brochures, catalogs or old magazines.

But certainly the most meaningful for RoGBC is the so-called “truth window” located on the visual axis of the room access. Rather than getting rid of them, we chose to integrate here considering a point of maximum visibility, a great part of the waste or the items “discovered” on the construction field, along with materials that have become characteristic for this project. Thus, on a cardboard, clamped to the columns which held the linoleum rollers, are found some pieces of bricks, stone, wood strips and pieces of old tiles – all visually enhanced by the window which was located until yesterday in the existing kitchen wall.

More information to follow shortly.

"Only God can make a tree... but the RoGBC came close"

In recent months the Romania Green Building Council has signed an agreement with the Ministry of Regional Development and Tourism and the United Nations Development Programme – Romania (UNDP)  to develop and execute a project to alleviate “fuel poverty” through the promotion and implementation of enhanced energy efficient and sustainable construction methods for a variety of building types.  In addition, Bogdan Draganescu Ph.D., our colleague on the RoGBC Board of Directors, is providing technical consultancy as Senior Advisor for UNDP.    As this project will involve significant activities between the RoGBC and the UNDP/MDRT project leadership, Bogdan has offered to step down from his RoGBC board position.Per our process established in the RoGBC bylaws, the Board has unanimously appointed the next candidate to accept the position based on the number of votes cast by our membership in the May 2011 election.    We are pleased to announce that  arh. Adrian Cristescu has accepted the board seat.   Adrian Cristescu and West Group Architecture have been enthusiastic and early supporters  of our Council contributing research assistance and guidance for green design for a number of RoGBC demonstration and research projects.

On behalf of the RoGBC Board, I would like to sincerely thank Bogdan for his volunteer efforts and valuable contribution to our success.   In addition, we would like to welcome Adrian to our board.

Lastly, we are looking forward to the success of the MDRT/UNDP project and the opportunity to prove conclusively that we can improve lives, health, building quality and personal and government finances by implementing a thoughtful, sustainable construction approach.

Wishing you Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas and La Multi Ani!
Steven Borncamp

Please contact Steven Borncamp for details.  More information on the project and RoGBC’s involvement can be found here.

Managing Director of Epstein Romania

RoGBC Founding Member, Epstein Engineering & Architecture has recently celebrated 90 years of existence, since the company was established in Chicago, in 1921. For nearly 90 years, Epstein, the architecture, interior design, engineering and construction company, has been associated with landmark projects throughout the world. Their specialists have been providing sustainable design, engineering and construction solutions for clients in the commercial, industrial and public sector.

The company is headquartered in Chicago with a regional domestic office in New York and international locations in Warsaw, Poland (since 1971) and Bucharest, Romania (since 2006).

Epstein is active on the Romanian market for more than five years, developing successful projects for international clients like Lufkin, Cameron, Andrew Corporation, Emerson, Star Foods Romania, Petrom.

“We are very proud that we have succeeded in consolidating our position on the Romanian market under difficult economic conditions, within only five years of existence. Our significant experience on industrial projects in Romania, along with the growing market potential, lead us further concentrate upon penetrating the commercial segment, as well.  We strongly believe in developing sustainable solutions for all of our projects and therefore offer LEED[1] consulting and energy modeling services for clients. We are one of the few companies in Romania with LEED Accredited Professionals and LEED Certified projects in Central Europe.”, declared Randy Tharp, Managing Director of Epstein Romania.

In Romania, Epstein is currently working on a new manufacturing facility for Lufkin Industries, providing architectural and engineering services, as well as general contracting. The new 35,470 sq m facility is located on an approximately 33.32 hectare site within the Ploiesti West Park in Romania. This new Lufkin facility is developed with the purpose to support sales of oil pumping units to current and future customers in the Middle East, Black Sea, Central Europe and eventually Russia.

[1] The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program from the United States Green Building Council is a means for building owners to certify their building as a sustainable facility. The program allocates credits to different categories of sustainable design and provides a Certified, Silver, Gold, or Platinum rating based on the number of credits obtained.

The project, led by Green Building Council South Africa in partnership with World Green Building Council, is a green retrofit of 30 low income houses and involves fitting each home with a solar water heater, insulated ceiling, efficient lighting and heat-insulation cooker. It includes additional “greening” elements such as rain water harvesting – that allows for better water and food security – and planting of indigenous trees . The local community was involved in the process and second hand, recycled materials from the surrounding areas were used for the retrofit. The cost for each home retrofit is estimated at 2800EUR.  More information on the specific  solutions that were used for the retrofit can be found here.

RoGBC sent invitations to the side events to our country  delegation to Durban. We were pleased to receive confirmation of participation to World GBC  COP 17 side events from the representatives of the Ministry of Environment and Forestry. 

Anca Bieru