I had the opportunity to participate this year at the International Congress organised by World GBC  on the 9th and 10th of November, just before Green Build. The atmosphere was great and I am very happy that I was able to establish more connections with GBC’s all over the world. From talking to people coming from different cultures and different continents – one might realise that we are so alike in our efforts. From Philipines to Mexico and Spain to Vietnam we are all facing more or less the same issues – how to increase the visibility of green buildings on our markets, how to get more members, how to collaborate with the public authorities etc. Therefore the topic of collaboration was one of the most present in our talks.

 The atmosphere was great, with a lot of enthusiastic people, supporters of green building concept at the global level. There were 34 Green Building Councils represented there out of almost 60 GBC’s in different stages of development/maturity that are now formed all over the world.   Tony Arnel, the Chairman of World GBC opened the conference saying that ” Each of our efforts are focused a lot on transforming the national markets, but together we are changing the world”  – quite appealing movement to be in.

There were a lot of discussions on enhancing collaborations between GBC’s. World GBC created a platform with information regarding all existing GBC’s around the world – every GBC can post there not only information about their organisation, but also events , innitiatives etc. I was very impressed when GBC representatives from Mexico or Canada were congratulating us and expressed interest in attending the second edition of Sustainable Architecture in Transylvania summer school. The platform is also very useful for GBC’s to share knowledge, learn from each other and better develop colaboration innitiatives. The platform is still “in development” in terms of content – but the general public can learn even now about the latest innitiatives of the GBC’s all over the world. If you are curious to found out more don’t hesitate to go to the Green Building Councils section on World GBC and click the Councils News.

Another World GBC plan to enhance collaboration between different GBC’s is to form regional networks. Right now the Asia&Pacific network is already formed and the next in plan is Europe , where RoGBC is planning to get involved as much possible. The purpose of regional networks is to encourage GBC’s to share knowledge, join forces in promoting the green building concept in their markets and also solve common problems. One of the main objectives of the European GBC network will be to lobby for green building legislation at the EU level.

There were a lot of talks on the importance that buildings should have in the new international agreement that is expected to be signed in Copenhagen in December 2009. UNEP together with USGBC, Australia GBC, UK GBC, Canada GBC  and SB Alliance closed a memorandum on “Common Carbon Metric Methodology” that will be used in all the main existing rating tools. If you are interested in the topic here is a document that summarizes the discussions and describes the protocol.

Discussions on Neighbourhood Rating Tools

Another important topic that was approached was the Neighbourhood Rating Tools. Practically all the major rating systems are enlarging their scope with adding special methodologies for calculating / evaluating the sustainability indicators in whole communities, not only singular buildings. LEED is finalising LEED for Neighbourhoods and BREEAM has recently launched  BREEAM Communities. CASBEE is also extending with CASBEE for Urban Development.

Meeting the representatives of the other GBC’s is always a pleasant experience, full of energy and optimism. It gives you the feeling that you belong to a big family set to change the world for better.

Next important mission of the World GBC together with the other GBC’s around the world will be to represent the cause of Green Buildings in Copenhagen this month.

Anca

Can a committed family do something worthwhile for the environment? The answer is “YES”. The Essl family, owner of bauMax Do-It-Yourself international store chain, proved that consideration towards the future generations is a matter of serious social involvement and that the impact of a committed family, running a responsible business, can make a statement for sustainability that would be hard to ignore.

This is the visionary context in which the RoGBC member bauMax opens the first green Do-It-Yourself store in Romania. The commercial unit located in Ploiesti uses innovative green technology for heating and lighting, saving not only energy use, but also money. The store has a floor heating system, connected to heat pumps (that use earth heat and transform it into electric energy). Also, the lighting system uses different lighting schemes for the different areas of the store. Plus, the store favors the use of natural light, through the glass roof insertions.

To complete the ecological concept, the bauMax Ploiesti store is the host of a two-week exhibition dedicated to green building solutions and products, as well as to interactive presentations on sustainable constructions and energy efficiency, both organized in collaboration with the Romania Green Building Council.

Suppliers like URSA, Lafarge, REHAU, Wienerberger, Dexion, Corporate Office Sollutions, Rigips, Calidus, Natural Paint and landscape designer Katja Perrey displayed multiple options for the Do-It-Yourself customers. In addition three specialized trainings brought quality information, delivered by Adrian Moisa (Jetrun), Sorin Pana (URSA Romania) and Andrei Lakatos (University of Architecture, Bucharest). The presentations focused on the improvements that home owners can make in order to lower their energy bills and improve the energy efficiency of their homes.

Furthermore, the exhibition displayed the winning projects of a green renovation contest organized by the RoGBC and bauMax addressed to aspiring students in architecture, construction, engineering to provide visual appeal, information, and a view from future designers about the exhibition’s theme. The jury that graded the projects was formed by: Katja Perrey (KP Landscapes), arh. Andrei Lakatos (University of Architecture and Urban Planning Bucharest), Laura Nemoianu (Romania Green Building Council). The results are here. The Romania Green Building Council joined the store opening to recognize bauMax’s commitment to constructing a better building in terms of environmental responsibility and to introducing more sustainable construction products into their product selection.

Click the links for pictures from the exhibition & from the opening ceremony.

Last Wednesday, the representatives of the European Parliament, European Commission and Council of Ministers came to an agreement on the final text of the new version of Energy Performance in Buildings Directive. The next step is for the Council to formally adopt the version, but in fact the major decisions were already taken. Our next 10 years are pretty much “shaped” when it comes to energy efficiency in buildings.

The final version is weaker than the version that was successfully voted by the European Parliament in April. We were expecting that the text to be modified in the negotiation process and some compromises to be made, but the final result is more a collection of recommendations than a powerful tool  that could significantly contribute to saving energy in the European buildings in the years to come. For the most advanced countries – were the national legislation and standards are very powerful (eg.  UK – all new buildings – carbon neutral starting from 2016) is not a big loss but for Eastern and Central Europe it is. In this region the national legislations are shaped mostly on the European Directives – if we have a strong Directive we have strong national legislation, if we have a Directive full of recommendations ….sometimes we listen and if we are lucky we look at the other Members States for best practices, we admire and start making a huge list of reasons for why not we cannot implement that measure or that mechanism or why we cannot allocate funds from the public budget …….and the list is long.

I presented briefly below the major changes (pro and cons) brought in by the final text of the EPBD:

Strengths:

1. Abolition of 1000sqm threshold – all buildings undergoing major renovation, irrespectively of their size will need to comply with the Directive (improve their energy performance)
2. Minimum energy performance requirements for minor renovations (practically when a building element that is part of the building envelope – windows, door, roofs – is replaced or retrofitted )
3. All new buildings must be “nearly zero energy buildings” by December 2020; new public buildings have to comply with the standard  by December 2018

Weaknesses:

1. No obligation for member states to amend the minimum energy performance requirements in their building codes to achieve the result of the Commission methodology. This practically means that there will still be differences between same energy levels (A,B,C..etc) on the energy performance certificates in different countries. The objective of assuring convergence towards higher standards will not be achieved (at least not through this version of the EPBD)
2. No concrete requirements for Member States to introduce targets to renovate existing buildings according to nearly zero energy buildings. They were not supposed to renovate the whole existing building stocks to this standard, but at least to consider this aspect to a minimum percentage of buildings that are renovated.
3. No obligation for certifying and displaying the energy performance certificate in case of public buildings, unless they are bigger than 500sqm (the threshold will be lowered to 250 sqm in five years) and visited by the public. However an important number of public buildings will not be included in this category.
4. Fiscal and financial incentives were introduced only as recommendations and not as obligations. Practically it will be up to each Member State to allocate or not funds from the state budget for putting in place measures to support the implementation of EPBD.
5. The terms for applying the provisions of the new EPBD were delayed with two years after it comes into force. Practically – if the law will be adopted in 2010 (expected to happen) the Member States are supposed to publish the transposing measures in 2 years after the entry into force.

Next stage already started –  we (RoGBC together with WWF Romania and other representatives of the non-governmental sector) will have to continue our initiatives at the national level and lobby for proper implementation of EPBD and adoption of real measures that will contribute to encouraging the energy efficiency in buildings and promotion of renewable energy production. The new version of EPBD offers some good arguments in the discussions, but it is a weaker tool than what it could have been.

The final text of the directive is available here.

Anca Bieru

Under the umbrella of the Sustainable Energy Europe Campaign, the 4^th edition of the EU Sustainable Week (EUSEW 2010) will, as in the past three years, provide a key reference point for sustainable energy issues in Europe. The event will take place in Brussels, Belgium, and in other European cities, including Bucharest, from Monday 22 to Friday 26 March 2010.  The main discussion themes of this year’s EUSEW will be concerning Europe’s cities and their efforts in the fight against climate change.

In addition, the Sustainable Energy Europe Campaign is organizing an Award Competition (the deadline for applications is 27 of November 2009) open to public authorities, private companies, European associations or NGOs, where participants are invited to present projects regarding energy efficiency, renewable energy sources, clean transport or bio fuels. The Sustainable Energy Europe Awards Competition comprises 5 categories:

• Sustainable Energy Communities
• Market Transformation including voluntary commitments
• Promotional, communication and educational actions
• Demonstration and dissemination projects
• Cooperation programmes

The winning projects will be handed the Award by the Commissioner for Energy at a prestigious Awards Ceremony which will be held in Brussels on the 23rd of March 2010 during the EU Sustainable Energy Week 2010.

Mircea Lazar – Canditate RoGBC Associate Member

ARCHIBUS Solution Center Romania announces the launch of the Romanian Facility Management Association (ROFMA), a professional organization dedicated to raising the efficiency and profitability of property management and promoting best practices and technologies.

ARCHIBUS Solution Center Romania (ASC-Romania) is the Romanian division of the American company ARCHIBUS Inc., world renowned real estate, infrastructure and facility management software manufacturer.

“ROFMA will show the way in which companies can transform and enrich their operational efficiency through implementing good practices which will make them even more competitive on the market” said Tudor Trita, CEO of ASC-Romania, ROFMA and RoGBC founding member.

Bruce K. Forbes, ARCHIBUS, Inc.  President hopes that “ROFMA will be an essential educational resource for supporting Romanian companies in becoming even more successful on the extremely competitive European market, as well as internationally.”

The number of finalized residential units in Bucharest increased from 834 in H1 2008 to 1,041 in H1 2009, while in Ilfov County the residential units decreased by 13%, reaching 2,160 units shows a report elaborated by BNP Paribas Real Estate at the end of the first half of 2009.

Along with information on the general evolution of the real estate investments, integrated in the contemporary economic context, the evaluation lead by the real estate company focuses on the five dimensions of the market: office, residential, commercial  industrial and land.

The authors of this report show that the pessimistic economic outlook and the negative general feeling of the real estate market have determined the contraction of the office segment. The office area finalized in H1 2009 was 17% smaller compared to the similar period of 2008, due to the delay with several months of projects proposed for delivery in H1 2009.

The worsening of the business environment for retailers was proved by the obvious decrease of the trade volume in the first semester of 2009 compared with the same period of 2008. The drop fluctuated between -1.5% in January and approximately -18% in June. The rise in supply registered during H1 2009 was a result of the completion of projects initiated before the economic crisis, when the local market was facing a strong imbalance between demand coming from international retailers and the available commercial units.

In H1 2009 the industrial segment was marked by the contraction of the leasing activity and low rhythm of completions. The majority of new modern facilities were medium-sized, with the logistic activities as main destination.

In the land sector, even in the context of diminishing asking prices there are still major discrepancies in price expectations between buyers and sellers. Except the landlords who are experiencing financial difficulties, the other owners are not willing to lower the price below a certain level.

The entire report is available for free download here.

Anca Bieru, our Director for Memberships and Public Affairs talked about the possibility to create new jobs by directing the economy towards greener approaches to business.

Taking “Ora Verde” (“Green Hour”) TV show as a message platform, Anca Bieru and Luminita Tanasie (WWF) discussed about the opportunities that derive from a green economy. This was part of a common effort of both the RoGBC and the WWF to raise awareness of the fact that the practical measures that can be taken for a green economy represent an investment for a sustainable economic future, and not budgetary costs.

“Sustainable landscape design uses techniques, which sometimes seem outdated in a world, where everything can be seen with a click and imported in a heart beat. The discovery of what the local has to offer and observing, rather than giving things a quick fix, are the new frontier” Katja Perrey – KP Landscapes.

With almost 30 people attending our most recent edition of the RoGBC Green Cafe, we are proud to announce we have broken our Green Cafe attendance record. The presentation held by Katja Perrey, RoGBC member and lecturer for the evening, proved that Romania has both the need and the opportunity to develop a sustainable landscaping sector.

For those interested, but unable to attend, here is a short preview of the atmosphere at the event.

Technical University - Darmstadt's winning entry with Energate windows

I was browsing the EcoSolutions section of CNN’s website when I read a very interesting headline… “Germany nabs second Solar Decathlon win”.

One of our member companies, Energate, has provided passive house quality glazing for  the University of Darmstadt’s entry for Team Germany in the U.S. Department of Energy’s “Solar Decathlon” – an international contest highlighting energy efficiency construction integrated with green energy.     The company joined the RoGBC last year, participated in our Sustainable Construction Materials training, and is advising on our exemplary building project.

Click here to read the CNN post.

Congratulations Energate!

- Steve

Last week, RoGBC member companies CEMS, Jetrun and West Group Architecture, represented by Corina Truica, Adrian Moisa and Adrian Cristescu, discussed about the advantages of building green on Money Channel’s TV show “Ora Verde”.

Other exciting topics focusing on the business side of green building are in store for the viewers of “Ora Verde”, every Friday (20.00), Saturday (07.00) or Sunday (09.00) on Money Channel TV.