The Moscow News recently asked two experts, Sergei Choban and Konstantin Kovalyovabout their views of the state of Russian buildings. Sergei Choban ismanaging partner of the architecture studio SPEECH Choban and Kuznetsov and Konstantin Kovalyov ismanaging partner of the real estate firm Blackwood and vice president of the Russian Union of Engineers.
The Moscow News asked three questions and following the questions are their answers.
1. Do legal requirements for energy efficiency vary between residential and non-residential spaces?
2. Are customers looking specifically for energy-efficient premises, either commercial or residential? Or is this simply another selling point?
3. Are the expenses of energy-efficient technologies balanced out by the eventual savings?
Sergei Choban
1. Currently, Russia has no state standards spelling out methods and solutions aimed at energy efficiency for various categories of buildings. If an investor or builder is oriented toward durability, then the designers and specialists determine concrete technical solutions, also taking into account special considerations related to the different uses of housing and offices. But that said, there are many ways to conserve energy at a level acceptable for buildings of different purposes. These are correct winterizing of the facade, a sustainable balance of glass and solid wall on the exterior facade, etc.
2. In Germany, so-called “hot rent” – rent of real estate which includes not just the value per square meter, but also energy and heat expenses – comes into consideration of the lease of an apartment or an office. I believe that in Russia these factors are already starting to play a role on the real estate market.
3. There are two levels to the creation of an energy-efficient building. There is passive energy efficiency, when the designer purposefully arranges the building and its exterior, and it will consume less energy on account of optimal cooperation with the surrounding environment, not making the building much more expensive. With active energy efficiency – the intended use of alternative energy, etc. – the technologies are not cheap, and for their pay-off period, we have to establish a corresponding term of use for the building, not less than 20 years.
For our bureau, the practice of constructing buildings that are functional for the long term is directly connected with energy efficiency. The length of use, without the need to often renovate or rebuild, or even demolish the building, means a direct conservation of resources and energy.
A durable building implies not just a quality and efficient fabric, but also a correctly chosen ratio of apertures and walls in the exterior, reasoned, planned and structured solutions, the use of safe and reliable materials, etc. The practice of building structures oriented to one function, with a term of use of less than 20 years, is, in my opinion, a barbarous approach to architecture and to the use of landscape and resources. I hope that this approach will be left in the past. In creating buildings intended for a long-term use, we are also fighting for energy efficiency, as in the use of renewable sources of energy or following the principles of sustainability.
Konstantin Kovalyov
1. With adoption of the federal law on energy efficiency, the use of energy- efficient technologies in building and reconstruction has now become obligatory. In accordance with building norms and rules: 1. constructions have to follow norms of heat output and air quality; 2. systems of heating, ventilation, air conditioning and hot water supplies have to have automatic or manual regulation; 3. engineering systems have to be fitted out with meters for heat, hot and cold water, electricity and gas from a central supply. Also obligatory is the use of efficient engineering equipment. All buildings now have to be graded according to classes of energy efficiency, from A (with a deviation from a set standard of energy efficiency of less than -45) to E (with a deviation higher than +51).
There is also a process of ecological certification primarily for offices, according to the international systems LEED and BREEAM, which present the highest requirements for energy efficiency. For example, the Ducat Place III business center on Ulitsa Gasheka, from the developer Hines, or the White Gardens business center on Lesnaya Ulitsa from AIG Lincoln.
2. Attention to the question of energy conservation, primarily from the side of developers and large international companies, has become more thorough thanks to the expansion in developed countries of required systems of ecological certification and ratings of buildings’ conservation. The tendency for the use of buildings with low consumption come from international tenants and investors. This becomes the most important condition of sale.
On the Moscow market, energy efficient buildings are gradually appearing: a range of projects has been announced, which are being built in accordance with international requirements of energy efficiency. Examples include the headquarters of the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (the Panda House) on Taganskaya Ulitsa, and the Moscow office of Siemens on Bolshaya Tatarskaya Ulitsa.
3. The construction of energy efficient buildings is expensive. In accordance with the life cycle of a building, savings are achieved only over the period of use. Therefore, only managing companies and tenants reap the benefits. Developers do not yet see a high economic benefit from the realization of energy-efficient projects.
World experience of the use of green office buildings shows that:
● energy consumption is lower by 25 percent, as is spending on electricity;
● a 30 percent reduction in the consumption of water consistently leads to a significant lowering of spending on water supplies;
● a higher quality of management, control and optimization of all systems achieves a cut in spending on upkeep of the building;
● greater clear revenue and value of property shares can lead to lower financial and insurance expenses;
● fewer refusals from rentals and ownerships, and greater satisfaction of tenants, can also lead to lower expenses;
● and the adoption of green construction perfectly suits the attraction of public attention, and promotes faster pay-off for rented space and greater loyalty on the part of tenants.
Energy in Demand - Sustainable Energy - Rod Janssen 