In need for Green Service Providers?
May 21, 2012 at 6:04 pm | Posted in Events, General | Leave a commentTags: Events, GBC, Green Building, Green Building Council, Green Building Projects, Launch Event, Romania Green Building Council, sustainability, Sustainable Construction
The 3rd edition of the Romania Green Building Council Awards Gala revealed the top three finalists / short list candidates:
- BuildGreen Romania
BuildGreen Romania is the first Romanian company providing assesment services (BREEAM and LEED), construction project management services for buildings and Green Building design support and consultancy.
BuildGreen projects: EuroTower – BREEAM certification, Crystal Tower – BREEAM certification, Victoria Center Office Building- BREEAM in Use – LEED EB:OM feasibility report, Olympia Tower Office Building – BREEAM certification
- CUNDALL Engineering
CUNDALL Engineering is a international multi-disciplinary consultancy operating company with over 20 locations across the globe. Cundall’s engineering consultancy services cover the entire life cycle of any building project offering sustainable design solutions.
- EPSTEIN ARCHITECTURE & ENGINEERING ROMANIA
Epstein is a professional services firm, providing architecture, engineering and construction services for offices, retail, manufacturing, distribution and institutional facilities around the world. Alinda Dudu has received the first LEED AP certification in Romania. (add something related to their involvement in the RoGBC training Platform)
The winner for this category was Epstein Architecture & Engineering.
Do you know which are the most innovative green building products in 2011?
May 21, 2012 at 5:53 pm | Posted in Events, General | Leave a commentTags: Bucharest, Events, Green Building Council, green buildings, RoGBC, Romania Green Building Council, Sustainable Construction
We revealed the top 3 within the Romania Green Building Council Awards Gala, on May 10 at Athenee Palace Hilton Bucharest
- AGC Flat Glass Romania;
Stopray Ultravision is new type of glass to be used in facades or windows. It has a double function: during winter, it acts as a super insulating glass. In double glazing Ug value is as low as 1.0 W/sqm K. In summer time its low Solar Factor of 23%generates significant reduction of electricity ( air conditioning is not used on full power). On top of that, the light transmission is the optimum (LT=49%), ensuring that natural light enters to the building. Glass has the highest selectivity in the market (ration between light transmission and solar factor is very high, S=LT/SF=2,13). Stopray Ultravision is certified Cradle to Cradle with SILVER.
- Jotun
Jotashield Extreme Silk is a 100% pure acrylic based paint specially formulated to with stand the harsh climate. The porduct’s special formulation based on a cutting edge technology offers excellent thermal comfort, lower energy consumption for keeping building interiors cool, longer lasting colours and protection against concrete carbonation. The special acrylic binder gives a durable and long lasting silk finish with low dirt pickup. It is ideal for decorating and protecting exterior surfaces and specially suited as a maintenance product
- Schneider Electric;
Transportation is responsible for almost one third of all CO2 emissions in most industrialized countries.
As environmental considerations cause individuals and businesses to increasingly consider electrical propulsion for a wide-range of transportation needs, society is presented with an outstanding opportunity to reconsider its expectation of vehicles and the role of personal mobility. And Schneider Electric has a very significant role in this motion process by providing the infrastructure for the charging stations used by electric vehicles.
Schneider Electric’s EVlink makes possible for an electric car battery to charge at 80% of its capacity in less than 15 minutes, covering all the needs of the contibutors: from energy utilities to electric vehicles users, from the smart grid to the plug, from local supervision to wireless supervision on the charging stations, from simple charge to smart charge to optimize costs.
In our country, Schneider Electric has signed a partnership with Renault, Electrica and Siemens to develop the electric vehicles charging infrastructure.
The winner of this category was AGC Flat Glass Romania.
News regarding the European Ecolabel – products, services and buildings
April 11, 2012 at 10:42 am | Posted in Certification, Events | Leave a commentTags: buildings, ecolabel for buildings, ecolabel for construction materials, ecolal certification, Energy Efficiency, Energy Efficiency in Buildings, green buildings, Ministry of Environment & Forests, Sustainable Construction, Sustainable Development
On April 5th, the Romania Green Building Council organized the third edition of the event that focused on the eco-labeling topic. The event took place at the headquarters of Swan Office & Technology Park and engaged the construction and hospitality industry and its service and product suppliers in a discussion about the opportunity and importance of a more environmentally responsible approach to designing, renovating, and operating their properties.
This year we have extended the discussion beyond the hotel industry, due to the increased interest not only from the building materials manufacturers in Romania, but also an increased interest at the European level regarding the extension and development of the criteria’s for obtaining the eco-label in other sectors of the construction industry. The main guest was Mrs. Daniela Toma – Councellor within the Directorate of Pollution Control and Impact Assessment, part of the Ministry of Environment and Forests. Mrs. Toma presented the advantages of obtaining the eco-label and the steps to be followed. The case study presented in this section was “Complex Piatra Soimului” from Sinaia, the first hotel from the Prahova Valley that obtained the eco-label.
Furthermore, it has been brought into discussion the types of products in the construction industry that can obtain the ecolabel certification and what is the connection between the ecolabel certification and buildings. The Romanian Green Buildings Council will collaborate with the Ministry of Environment and Forests for the establishment of a consultative working group which purpose will be to analyze and provide comments on the draft criteria that exist at the moment for the eco-labeling of buildings.
The first trans‐European communication platform about Sustainable Construction – Construction 21 was also part of the agenda, as the event was addressed to those concerned in taking advantage from energy-efficient design principles with low impact on the environment. Ms. Eng. Mihaela Nicolau presented the project’s scope and ways of how getting involved. We are confident that as a result of this event, a larger number of companies that promote energy efficient buildings will get involved in the Construction 21 project.
Madalina Radulescu, Complex Piatra Soimului, Sinaia
eng. Mihaela Nicolau, presenting the Construction21 project.
Creating and Managing Greener Workspaces course
July 6, 2011 at 10:50 am | Posted in Events, Training | Leave a commentTags: Energy Efficiency, Green Building, sustainability, Sustainable Construction, Sustainable Development, Training
On July 5th the RoGBC organized the “Creating and Managing Greener Workspaces” course, part of the “Romania Green Building Professional” certification and training platform.
The course presented key information on various sustainable office solutions. Mrs. Elena Tanase, Market Manager Steelcase Romania & Bulgaria, and Mrs. Mihaela Udriste, Senior Project Director Corporate Office Solutions, discussed about energy efficient and environmentally responsible design principles in an office.
Mr. Finbar Murphy, MEP Leader Arup, presented in a very interesting manor some great ideas, case studies and initiatives of creating and managing sustainable work-spaces. Below you can see a heat pump system that can help improve the energy performance in an office building.
LEED green building rating tool course organized by the RoGBC
June 29, 2011 at 12:26 pm | Posted in Events | Leave a commentTags: Green Building, Green Building Council, LEED, Sustainable Construction, Training
Romania Green Building Council in partnership with Triple Green Building Group organized on June 28 the 3rd training course this year about the internationally recognized LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) building rating system created by the U.S. Green Building Council.
The event was organized with the help of our founding member Epstein Global, who were very kind to host us in their conference room. Epstein is one of the largest and oldest architecture, interiors, engineering and construction firms in the world.
Mrs. Vessela Vatcheva-McGee, LEED AP, delivered the course on LEED ‘BD+C 251: Understanding the Building Design + Construction LEED Rating Systems’. The course objectives were to identify LEED BD+C minimum program requirements, to recognize the unique aspects and differences between each LEED BD+C rating systems and to plan for key considerations and requirements for the LEED certification process. This course provided the participants with coursework critical to professionals interested in taking the LEED Green Associate exam.
The participants were from various fields of activity and companies: members of the RoGBC team, Epstein Global, Bluehouse Capital, Build Green Romania, architects and independent building evaluators.
Get ready with your green building and sustainable company submissions!
April 28, 2011 at 2:49 pm | Posted in Events | Leave a commentTags: awards, buildings, Events, Green Building, Green Building Projects, Initiative, projects, sustainability, sustainable architecture, Sustainable Construction, Sustainable Development
Romania Green Building Council is partnering again with Europa Property to present the “Romania Green Building Council Awards“.
These include:
Eligible building projects must have been completed or implemented by December 31, 2010. The RoGBC Awards distinguish jury members include:
Persons and companies can nominate themselves or others and do not have to be members of the Romania Green Building Council, but must adhere to the submission criteria. The process to submit a nomination include:
Follow the instructions in the submission criteria to submit your form by May 10th, 6pm. Shortlisted candidates will be invited as guests of the RoGBC to attend EuropaProperty’s South Eastern European Awards where the Green Building award winners will be announced. The Green Awards take place during the 6th annual Europa Property SEE Real Estate Awards Gala & Forum at the Athenee Palace Hilton Hotel, May 19th for more information on attending and sponsorship opportunities please go towww.europaproperty.com |
RoGBC presents work at the Europe GBC Netwoork Meeting in London
March 21, 2011 at 11:52 pm | Posted in Events, General | Leave a commentTags: collaboration, Green Building, Legislative Outreach, policy, Sustainable Construction
Ecobuild is probably the largest fair in Europe focused on green building area with more than 1300 exhibitors and over 80 000 participants this year. Even if it is still focused mostly on the UK market, there are visible (and successful) efforts to make it more international.
This year World GBC had a special stand, representing all the existing Green Building Councils in the Europe network – from more than 29 countries throughout Europe. RoGBC participated as well and apart from the previous years we had also some members (CEMS and Smart&Pepper Consulting) attending the fair -with the support of UK Embassy in Bucharest. RoGBC’s mission at the event this year was to partially staff the World GBC booth offering information about the green building market and activities in Romania but also the CEE region.
Beyond staffing the booth our team had a very active presence in the 4th of March Europe GBC Network meeting . The regional meeting was focused on three major aspects:
a. Discussing the common activities that could be developed in the network on policy areas - Anca Bieru, Director of Membership and Public Affairs and Chair of the Europe GBC Network Policy Task Force presented the proposed strategy for getting the network represented in the dialogue with main EU institutions ( European Commission, European Parliament, Council of Ministers) and for enhancing collaboration among GBC’s around sharing best practices on policies from the national level.
b. Discussing the common activities that could be developed in education area - Emilo Mitre Miguel discussed efforts to assess the current status of GBC training via a recent effort to categorize the various GBCs offereings. Steven Borncamp, RoGBC president, presented our RoGBC Green Building Professional Certification Program and offered and open source toolkit for GBC’s interested in developing similar programs. The initiative was well-received by both new and established GBCs as a way to stimulate collaboration on training among existing GBC’s and support the capacity in this area of younger GBC’s.
c. Discussing other collaboration activities that could strengthen individual GBC’s but also network’s capacity and visibility in front of third parties – Steven Borncamp presented a collaboration and communication framework to be developed between GBC’s that would create the basis for sharing information and create mutual promotion/visibility opportunities for GBC’s and their members in events organised by each GBC or group of GBC’s in Europe.
Waste Directive – in the public debate
November 5, 2010 at 1:50 pm | Posted in Legislative Outreach, News from Members | Leave a commentTags: green, green construction material, Legislation, Legislative Outreach, Sustainable Construction
The 2008/98/CE Waste Framework Directive has to be transposed into the national legislation by the end of the year. This directive is important for the construction industry because it aims at recovering 70% of the construction waste by 2020.
More information about this directive and a brief analysis of the law project proposed by the Ministry of Environment are available here. This analysis was carried out by Luiza Manolea, lawyer member of RoGBC in the Legislative Outreach Group.
Anca
“Greening our Hotels – Green Hotels in Romania too” – September 28th, 2010, Bucharest
October 12, 2010 at 10:49 am | Posted in Events | Leave a commentTags: buildings, conference, Energy Certification, Energy Efficiency, Events, Green Building, Green Building Council, green buildings, Legislation, Legislative Outreach, RoGBC, Sustainable Construction
On September 28th, Romania Green Building Council held, at the Athenee Palace Hilton, a one day course on “Greening our Hotels – Green Hotels in Romania too”, in order to engage the hospitality industry and its related products and services in a discussion regarding the opportunity and importance of a more environmentally responsible approach of architectural design, rehabilitation and dealing with properties.
The workshop provided practice information about integrating available technologies in the design of more energy efficient and with low environmental impact buildings. In addition, the course was structured so that the participants had the time to interact with the speakers, during the “question& answer” sessions.
First part. Competitive advantages for building/ refurbishing green hotels.
In his welcoming speech, Steven Borncamp, president of RoGBC, gave a short introduction to the importance of the “green approach” in designing and operating new buildings, increasing international and local regulations for building materials and energy consumption, as well as the need for more action for generalized sustainable principles for all types of buildings. Stressing that “green” stands for quality, present and future, Mr. Borncamp also mentioned that for a slight increase of the costs for a green building (with 2-4%), the cumulative savings are about 40% per year, while the investment amortization is being done in the first 2 or 3 years.
Next, Linda Griffin, the new general manager of Hilton Athenee Palace, presented some recent actions that aim at reducing electricity consumption, promoting ecological means of transportation (bicycles for customers) and creating a Green Team, which would be involve in implementing sustainable initiatives in the hotel network as well as initiating a “customer awareness” program on environmental behaviors during accommodation.
David Nicholl- general manager of Schneider Electric- had a comprehensive overview on the benefits of generalized automation systems in all types of buildings, including hotels. Through the Active Energy Management systems, significant, controllable and predictable reductions are being made, throughout the building, while ensuring optimum comfort for residents. The integrated Schneider Electric solutions can lead to constant electricity and heat consumption reductions up to 30% in the long run.
Second part. Financial incentives, legislation and certification
Ms. Maria Daniela Toma – manager in Ministry of Environment- tackled issues of the environmental labeling of hotels. Introduced after 2005, eco-labels represent green building certification, based on 20 criteria which include, among others, indicators of ecological materials use, presence and quality of the vegetation in the site area, energy and water consumption, waste storage and recycling, cleaning systems’ efficiency, information about preventive ecological behavior etc. Specific matters regarding general aspects and regulations of green label certification are available on www.eur-lex.europa.eu. The fee for obtaining this certification is presently 200-300 euro/year.
Furthermore, two case studies were presented. Linica Stan, manager Saturn Hotel, presented the case of Saturn Hotel, Mangalia, while for Crowne Plaza Hotel, Bucharest, the presentation was held by Melania Secuianu, Administrative Manager Crowne Plaza Hotel.
Mark Velody – BERD consultant – held a methodological overview of financial procedures, with favorable interest or grants for energy efficient building projects.
Third part. Innovative solutions.
Rafael Mărculescu – Schneider Electric – completed David Nicholl’s presentation through an application of energetic management integrated systems. He showed that the implementation of this kind of systems is very useful for all types of hotel equipments (heating/ HVAC/ water management, lighting etc.) and that the investment amortization for Schneider systems is up to 3 years, meanwhile noticing reductions of 35% for heat, 60% for electricity, as well as the number of employees.
David Clark – Cundall Engineering – presented a hotel case study, underlining the three aspects – energetic benchmarking, clarifying the CO2 footprint criteria (design, passive/ active system, energy efficiency and the recovery of energies) and users’ information/ education, in this case the tourists.
Specific solutions
In the last part the presentations were about a) particular solutions (products and systems) for a successfully implementation of significantly reduction of electricity consumption, lighting through efficient LED and mercury light bulbs (Cuneșteanu – Philips România), b) packaging waste management (Lorita Constantinescu – Eco-Rom Ambalaje) and c) sustainable solutions for green spaces design, through water management and special effects for the aesthetic part and for air quality improvement (Katja Perrey – Katja Perrey Landscapes).
Organizer:
Romania Green Building Council (www.RoGBC.org) is a non-profit and non-political association which encourages the development of market, educational and legal conditions necessary in the transformation of the building industry, in order to create and refurbish intelligent buildings, both sustainable and profitable. RoGBC is an “Established Council” within the World Green Building Council (www.WorldGBC.org) .
Cristina Şiu
Romania Green Building Council
Manager Marketing & Events
021-222 5135 / 021-260 0051 / 021 – 222 0011
The Ministry of Regional Development and Tourism has made acreditation for energy auditors more accesible
July 30, 2010 at 2:40 pm | Posted in Certification | Leave a commentTags: Energy Audit, Energy Efficiency, Legislation, Sustainable Construction, Sustainable Development
The Ministry of Regional Development and Tourism lunched a draft for modifying the Annex of the Law from MLRTP no 550/2003 for approval the technical regulations “Guide for certifying energy auditors for buildings and installations“. The old document in which was presented how to certify the energy auditors has been modified. The new guide comes with more details about the process. We will try to present a summary on chapters in which we will try to clarify the accreditation process regarding the old guide and the changes that were made.
The first chapter “General provision” refers to the specialists who can receive the certificate. They can be both from Romania and also from the European Union.
In the second chapter “The certification of energy auditors for buildings” are presented the levels of certification: AEC I and AEC II, and the activities each one can perform. This new Law draft makes clear the attributions of each category. AEC II can make audits only for apartments and one-family buildings.
The third chapter refers to the mandatory documents and conditions for beginning the accreditation. The submitted files are analyzed by a commission of 3 members. Then is presented a detailed list of all the specialists who can submit for accreditation. An important detail is that the file should be submitted at most 1 year after finishing the specialized studies. Another important change is the minimum period after you can apply to become an energy auditor. For AEC II is 3 years, from a 6 year period, and for AEC I is 5 years, from a 10 years period.
In the forth chapter are presented the technical and professional regulations for the certification. The review committees are formed by 7 members, high skill specialists in the construction field. More details about the examination process and the way the committee evaluates the candidates are presented in the fifth chapter. Some of the important changes presented in the last chapter are:
- The applicants that were rejected can ask for a reevaluation after a 6 month period, in the past document the period was 1 year.
- The rules by which the permit to do the energy audit is cancelled are more severe.
- The persons which are already accredited as energy auditors can ask for examination for AEC I or AEC II , in a 6 month period after this Law draft is issued.
As a general conclusion. the accreditation process became more facile. Conditions as the necessary seniority or the number of recommendations for submitting the file have changed, for more easy terms, making easier the whole process. The exam can be held in the big universities around Romania. For the construction and real estate market, the modifications are of support. The investments and transactions in this field won’t be burdened once the energy certificates are approved.
The Order can be viewed here.
Catalin Gauloiu
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