Round-table “Sustainable real estate and green building certification: an option or a ‘must’ for Ukraine?” was held

“In the nearest perspective, it will be impossible to secure funding from international investors for implementation of construction projects, in which sustainability principles are not taken into consideration”, – experts for sustainable construction

On November 29, 2017 the round-table “Sustainable real estate and green building certification: an option or a ‘must’ for Ukraine?” was held in Kyiv. The event was organized by the European-Ukrainian Energy Agency (EUEA), Green Building Council Inc. Europe (GBCI), and co-organized by iC consulenten in Ukraine and Austrian CES clean energy solution.

During the round-table the experts in sustainable construction discussed trends, which will determine the development of commercial construction in Ukraine in coming years.

“In the nearest perspective, Ukrainian buildings will not be able to attract foreign investments without green certificates, – pointed out Elena Rybak, member of the Board of the European-Ukrainian Energy Agency, director of iC consulenten in Ukraine. Now, the international investors demand certification of buildings (such as LEED or BREEAM) as a mechanism of guarantee of higher quality result for their investments.

“Our fund does not fund real estate projects, which do not consider principles of green construction”, – stated Oleksiy Parkhomchuk, investment director, representative Ukraine of the Danish Investment Fund for Developing Countries (IFU). Nordic Environment Finance Corporation (NEFCO) follows the same policy for financing real estate. Given the current prices for heating, energy and water, the investment in sustainable real estate is a guarantee that exit for investor in couple of years will be much easier due to elimination of many risks like rapid and unpredictable growth of operation costs.

“Certification in accordance with green standards increases project costs once by 3-10%, while the savings from operational costs will constitute up to 35 % annually compared to the non sustainable building” – said Andreas Helbl, General Director of iC consulenten, which already has experience in preparation of documentation for LEED certification in Ukraine.

The ratio of these funds in the Ukrainian projects was presented on the example of construction of a 4-star hotel of Radisson in Odessa. This project will pursue the certification according to LEED Gold standard. Vladimir Gorashchenko, President & CEO of Double W, stated that for the certification of the hotel according to the international standards and procurement of necessary equipment (special sensors, heat panels etc.) additional investment is needed in the amount of 1.2 million Euro. The total cost of the project might amount up to 50 million Euro. The energy savings will amount up to 300 thousand EUR per year, so the additional investment is economically viable.

“Ensuring the principles of sustainable construction and plans for project certification according to LEED Gold significantly simplified communication with investors and allowed to secure necessary investments”, – said Vladimir Gorashchenko.

Kay Killmann, Managing Director of GBCI Europe, presented statistics for Ukrainian LEED-certified projects. “Today in Ukraine there are 2 projects that have already received certificates and 8 projects that have begun the process of obtaining them,” said Mr.Killmann.

Summaries of the speakers’ presentations at the round-table can be found via this link

Presentations for download: