According to the report of Colliers International titled "Green buildings in Poland | Certification in numbers 2016", last year the number of green certificates increased by more than 44 per cent in comparison to the total number of ecological certificates recorded at the end of 2014. There are already 357 structures awarded the certificate or pre-certificate BREEAM and LEED. The most popular is BREEAM, within which 75 per cent of green buildings have already been certified.
The first ecological certificate in Poland was awarded 6 years ago. In that period two international standards of buildings’ assessment were accepted – American LEED and British BREEAM. Another certificate is French HQE, which has been used only by Bouygues Immobilier Poland so far.
In 2015, certifications of structures at the design or construction stage constituted 63 per cent of the whole market. According to the analysis of certification systems, BREEAM is applied to both existing (46 per cent) and planned buildings (54 per cent). LEED system is most frequently used at the design stage (more than 90 per cent).
Offices are still a leading type of green buildings and they constitute 70 per cent of all certified structures in Poland. More than three times less of certified buildings belong the commerce sector – currently 79 designs, whereas 25 certified warehouse and production buildings belong to the warehouse sector – Andrzej Gutowski, Senior Expert in Department of Certification of Green Buildings of Colliers International, says.
At present, almost 47 per cent of all certified buildings are situated in Warsaw, where 42 new certifications have been recorded within last 12 months. The biggest increase in green structures among regional cities was recorded in respectively Wrocław (9), Cracow (8) and Gdańsk (7).
The prospects for development of certificates seem to be promising. Szczecin is the first city in Poland which decided to introduce a tax relief for designed green structures reaching at least the Gold level in the case of LEED or the Very Good level in the case of BREEAM. If the example of Szczecin is to be followed by other cities, green certificates will play even more significant role in planning of investments in the nearest years – Andrzej Gutowski adds.