BUSINESS FM: Green Development in Russia
29 May 2013
BUSINESS FM: Green Development in Russia
Timur Sukharev, Chief Commercial Officer of Restavracia N, answers questions of Valeria Mozganova on air of “Real Estate. Segments and Perspectives” programme on Business FM radio.
“Restavracia N was one of the first Moscow development companies to start working in the segment of premium class real estate in Moscow and Saint Petersburg. At present the company is busy with construction of the elite residential quarter Knightsbridge Private Park in Khamovniki.
— Today we speak about the green development trend at 8 of our business meetings from 10. From your point of view, what does green development mean now for thedevelopment community?
— Green development is a new trend that has already been in progress throughout the world for 20 years. In Russia it is only arising. Not every project will be able to pass through estimation for BREEAM certification we are passing though or LEED (American estimation system). The thing is that these systems envisage estimation of everything: a project is estimated, its location, transport accessibility, pedestrian areas, planted land, purity of materials used for construction. There are very many levels of assessment. Scores are given for each parameter. Generally speaking, BREEAM is a certain quality mark.
—Knightsbridge Private Park is the most expensive project in the Moscow elite market today. Did you get involved into assessment according to green standards, into the issue of ecology because this is your choice, your social responsibility, your sales pitch or is it indeed the time requirement?
— When we were designing this project and creating the concept, we wanted to make it the best one. At that point in time we considered all possible materials and state-of-the-art technologies and thus came to BREEAM as some quality assessment system. If we consider western experience, in the USA banks grant mortgages or housing loans much more eagerly for those projects that have passed eco-certification.
— Are you going into it intentionally, realising that it does not actually give you any sales advantages?
— So far it does not give. Maybe in a year or two while we are implementing this project, we will see the advantages. Now our project is chosen first of all by other criteria. Perhaps there are some five percent of people who ask about the essence of the BREEAM certification system. The majority are much more interested in lifts, fa?ades of houses, layouts of flats, whether stone is natural or artificial, i.e. specific characteristics of the project. The main advantages of eco-certification will be revealed in the future in the course of operation of the building: we reduce utility charges by 30% if compared with other elite complexes.
— Among developers there are many different opinions whether green technologies make construction more expensive and whether they increase the final price. What does your experience show?
— Of course, the project gets more expensive. Within the budget of our project – from 2 to 5%. We intentionally went into it but at the same time we realise that the quality of our project is officially confirmed. If a person cannot understand at the moment what is BREEAM certification, then in the future he/she is sure to experience it. The project is being constructed not only in compliance with construction norms and rules and GOSTs that existed earlier but also in accordance with new trends and new technologies when far more various aspects of construction are taken into account.
— Even if we take into account that Khamovniki, where your project is being constructed, is, let us say, not a bad district, still we live in a city that hardly can be called unpolluted. Then, is it worth the trouble?
— Yes, it does. At home you spend 8-9 hours in environmentally-clean accommodations. Plus, again, the quality of construction. We keep talking about quality but there isn’t any standard of quality. When people come and ask: “All right, you are constructing an elite house. Is it of high quality? – Yes, it is.-Where is the assessment?” a developer has to answer this question somehow. Quality assessment should be objective. One can estimate subjectively architecture, interior design and size of floor spaces – these all depend on one’s taste. But quality should be objective. If there is quality, it should be assessed. If a project has not been assessed, you can assess it yourself. For someone quality means smooth-faced walls and for someone it is much more.
— Today when you say that you are passing BREEAM certification, do people believe this certificate? Do they know what it is?
— Most of them do not know. Some of they do ask, there are meticulous buyers who are interested in everything. They come and ask: “Please tell what is inside, what pipes, what water purification system?” Including even titles.
—Let’ imagine that the issue of ecology has become the crucial one for buyers, developers and for the whole real estate market. Does it mean that projects located in the centre (and usually all elite projects are located downtown) will lose an advantage because they are located in the most environmentally neglected areas of the city?
— It is obvious that a city by itself is less adjusted to ecological living than, for example, a forest. But at the same time, if you already live in a city, even in the centre of a metropolitan city you want to protect yourself somehow to make your life as comfortable as possible. As to BREEAM, this system takes into account absolutely everything. Certification is a set of certain pluses. There is something you are able to do and something you are not. When we started the procedure of certification, we already had a ready project and there were some thing we could not change.
— What was it late to change?
— Some insignificant things. We have received lots of scores for the infrastructure of our project, for the availability of a park, a kindergarten, a wellness centre, a fitness centre, storerooms, garages. Therefore, our task now is exactly in the implementation of the idea. We have the project and have received a large number of scores for it, now we should keep to high quality of construction and then we will receive positive assessment of BREEAM.