The trend towards energy efficiency and high competition in the office real estate market in Ukraine stimulates the launch of projects that meet the requirements of international “green” certificates, according to NAI Ukraine.
“Interest in “green” certification in Ukraine has appeared relatively recently – most of the projects have passed it in the last five years. Thus, among the names of projects with “green” certification are the most notable and successful projects on the market. Compared with the dynamics of certification in Ukraine in the past years, when these were only isolated cases, the number of projects undergoing it now makes it possible to speak of a ‘boom’,” Maryna Hurevych, the head of the consulting department of NAI Ukraine, told the Interfax-Ukraine agency.
According to her, 18 buildings are certified in Ukraine, of which six are certified according to the European eco-certification system BREEAM (two stages of the Astarta business center, Grand in Kyiv, Optima Plaza in Lviv) and 13 objects according to the American LEED system (buildings in Unit.City, Lviv Innovation Park, the business centers MAG.NETT and KMOST, separate offices of Shell, NOX, NEC, the Chanel boutique). At the same time, in general, there are 457 such projects in Eastern Europe, almost 5,000 projects in Western Europe, and more than 20,700 in the United States.
Among the triggers for the development of “green” certification, the expert names the requirements of socially responsible clients, government regulatory policy, a decrease in operating costs against the background of growing costs of utilities, care for health and the environment, and PR.
“High competition in the real estate market forces developers to introduce new formats as quickly as possible. Despite the fact that the price for one square meter of such an eco-building is slightly higher than the “usual” one, requests from investors are becoming more and more,” the expert noted.
According to her, the “green” certification of a building can reduce operating costs by an average of 11-15%, increase the cost of business (up to 38%), ensure the best competitive position in the market, improve the reputation and brand image (up to 18%), and allows increasing rental payments (up to 18% on average higher rental income). In addition, certified business centers attract a progressive audience of tenants, whose share in the country is constantly growing.
