February 27, 2019. The Lighthouse business centre hosted an eco-business breakfast under the title “Office to green standards for corporate sustainable development”. The breakfast was organized by the Green Office club with the support of O1 Properties.
A report on the global sustainable development goals of the United Nations was presented at the event. The goals include action to improve the environment in cities and to make cities “inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable”. Real estate companies can contribute to these goals by the construction of green buildings and by investing to improve the environmental performance of offices.
Those attending the business breakfast were able to appreciate the benefits of green offices by the example of the Lighthouse business centre, where the breakfast was provided. Lighthouse was awarded an international BREEAM in-Use environmental performance certificate in 2013. The building is a redevelopment of a former industrial site into a modern business space with its own green areas and spaces for recreation. The premises and infrastructure of the complex are open for use by the local community, and a comfortable environment has been created inside the building by the use of natural light, acoustic technologies and control of air quality. The business centre also has systems in place to reduce energy and water consumption.
The real estate portfolio of O1 Properties currently includes more than 300,000 square metres of space, which has been certified to environmental efficiency standards, and the company intends to obtain certification for the whole of its office portfolio in the future.
Russia is currently developing its own standards for assessing the environmental performance of buildings and offices, taking account of climatic and geographical features. The Lighthouse event included presentation of the EcoGreenOffice system for Russia , which has been designed with assistance from the Green Economy Program of the World Wildlife Fund, the Forest Stewardship Council and Russia Green Building Council, involving experts of the Green Office club and the Green Office Laboratory. The EcoGreenOffice system is based on the international LEED and BREEAM standards, and on Russia’s RUSO (Lived Environment Sustainability Rating), and applies recommendations from Greenpeace as well as lessons learnt at sites that are already in use.
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