Out of the crisis with green development - new tendencies in the Ukraine and in Russia

In the face of the financial and economic crisis, the subject of "green development" is becoming relevant in the Ukrainian and Russian new-development real-estate markets. Investors hope that sustainable solutions will make their buildings above all more economical and functional. In Kiev, Drees & Sommer is assisting in the new construction of an office building as a prototype for a Ukrainian Green Building project and is involved in the development of new certification standards.

For a long time, the subject of green building didn't play much of a role in Russia or the Ukraine - construction and real-estate projects were seen above all in terms of their potential to make a fast profit. With the emergence of the financial and economic crisis, the possibilities and potential for optimisation inherent in green building concepts came into focus. Besides the environmental and energy aspects, it is above all the long-term cost savings, in terms of reduced life-cycle costs, enabled by green developments that are of interest to investors. Drees & Sommer is currently overseeing the prototype of the first green building project in the Ukraine. The consultants are assisting in the development and planning of an office building for the UDC Universal Development Construction group of companies in Kiev. Following an initially conventional construction design, a new orientation in the direction of a Green Building certification is taking place. Of particular importance is the selection of an appropriate rating system and a label that combines international standards and local requirements to the utmost extent.

Demonstrable savings
It is not only environmental, socio-cultural and technical aspects that play a role here. The measures that have been developed lead to an economic advantage in the currently strained construction and real-estate market. As a result, it is possible to demonstrate savings of up to 15 per cent for a partial share in construction costs as well as prove an up to 25-per-cent optimisation of the building's utilisation. Besides the pilot project in Kiev, the real-estate consultants have also already been involved in the redevelopment of the "green" concept for a housing complex in Moscow as well as in the energy optimisation of a mixed-use building in Kaliningrad.
 
Local standards are being defined
Parallel to these projects, the foundations for local Green Building Councils are currently being laid in Russia and the Ukraine. Drees & Sommer is accompanying the development in terms of content. In the current phase, the foundations for future standards are being established and defined. Competence partners from the areas of planning, construction, development and sales are involved in the process. The goal is to achieve a balance between globally recognised requirements and the local understanding of sustainability. It can be assumed that the subject of green building will be organisationally established in the Ukraine in about a year's time. For Russia, it is assumed that the process will already be finalised at the beginning of 2010.

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