The main leaders of the multi-criteria systems of building assessment met in Krakow during the PLGBC Green Building Symposium - focusing on strategy of the green building development in Poland.
PLGBC symposium is undoubtedly the key event in the country, as so it is is the Central and Eastern Europe, that is focused on sustainable construction. The symposium was organized by the Polish Green Building Council for the third time and within 3 days it gathered about 200 participants from leading companies and organizations.
Thus, we have a confirmation that the interest in sustainable construction and "green" certification is growing.
Green building market flourishes in Poland - says Agnes Vorbrodt, Founder, CEO, Vice President of PLGBC. With dozens of buildings registered in the LEED and BREEAM, and many certified projects, our country is close to exceeding the 100 buildings designed in accordance with the principles of sustainable construction - and it is a major milestone.
This year PLGBC hosted World Green Building Council Europe Network Meeting, which took place on 14-15 of November and gathered leaders of the "green" market in this part of the world.
November 16 was devoted to presenting the work of governments in other European countries on sustainable construction, the goal was to inspire our local market. An important occurrence was perfect, catchy lecture by Jerome Gautier, Director of Plan Batiment Grenelle, who talked about French government activities related to the dynamic promotion of sustainable building (French Green Bill - Grenelle de l'Environnement).Then Mrs. Mayor of Cracow, Elżbieta Koterba invited all guests to the conference, talking about the commitment of the city of Krakow in activities related to green construction, in the context of land use planning and urban development. Paul King, CEO UKGBC talked about building a zero carbon footprint in the UK.
November 17 was entirely devoted to multi-criteria building certificates. PLGBC invited key leaders of these systems (Scot Horst, Senior Vice President of LEED, USGBC, Martin Townsend, Director of BREEAM, Ana Cuhna, Board Member of the France GBC representing the HQE) - it was a spectacular glimpse into the future of sustainable construction market in Poland and Europe.
During his lecture, Scot Horst talked about dealing with recent innovations in LEED and development of a new tool that is LEED 2012. It is proved that multi-criteria rating systems such as LEED or BREEAM improve the functioning of the building - says Scot Horst.Martin Townsend presented the progress in BREEAM, while Ana Cuhna revealed ,and entirely new on the Polish market, but very adequate French system - HQE.
Then Alfonso Ponce told to invest in real estate and he also pointed out that LEED is multi-criteria system that starts to dominate the European market. His speech ended with a presentation of a new trend - multiple certificates in one building - the example was one of the building in Paris which, at the same time, is applying for LEED, BREEAM and HQE.
An important highlight of the day was a panel discussion moderated by Rafał Schurma, PLGBC President. The participants were: Scot Horst, Martin Townsend, Ana Cuhna, Alfonso Ponce - Deloitte France, UNEP-SBCI and SB Alliance, Sebastian Vetter - UBM Poland - PLGBC 2011 Green Architect of the Year Award Winner and Agnes Vorbrodt. All the guests talked about how important is the "green" building and the contribution of multi-criteria systems in the current real estate market.
November 17 was also significant for housing - Agnes Vorbrodt, presented LEED for Homes - an international pilot program.After months of discussions and coordination with USGBC, it is finally available for interested developers in Poland and other European countries.
Rafal Schurma initiated PLGBC Green Materials and Green Products certification which met with great interest from manufacturers of materials and products.Some of them are already involved in the pilot phase.
Roman Hatossy, Vice President of PLGBC, ended Symposium with inspiring presentation on innovations in sustainable construction. Systematic approach to innovation is a very interesting concept, both for those who just approach to innovation as well as those who already deal with them for some time. Sustainable construction is an area that can be said is "filled to the brim with innovation." I am convinced that what was presented during the presentation will help in both, the search of innovation as well as their management - in particular, the implementation of the strategy building and forecasting future scenarios...