Over the past three years, the number of new office building projects in Hungary has decreased. New projects which have gotten off the ground are going green and seeing certification in higher numbers than ever.
Green shopping centres are also becoming popular in the country, with the projects in this category being the Campona and Pólus Centre malls. Another green retail space which is currently under construction is the Hegyvidék Centre.
The number of existing office buildings which are either certified or under assessment to obtain this status is increasing as well. Current estimates put the amount of environmentally-friendly office space in Budapest at 240,000 square meters, which is 7.5 per cent of the total modern office stock. The amount of office space in this category is expected to rise to 10 per cent by the year 2014.
Currently, there are two LEED-certified and four BREEAM-certified building projects either under construction or expected to start shortly. The LEED certification system is U.S. based, and the BREEAM system is from the United Kingdom.
Each of the main certification systems has a number of sub-categories for building certifications. The LEED system has New Construction, Core and Shell, as well as Existing Buildings Operation and Maintenance categories. A tenant office within an existing building can be certified under the LEED system’s Commercial Interiors category. The BREEAM system has a Europe Commercial category for new construction projects, and an In-Use category for making improvements to an existing property.
Under the BREEAM system, a building must achieve 30 points on the 100-point scoring system to achieve a “Pass.” An “Outstanding” grade is given to buildings at or above the 85-point level. Under the LEED system, a level of 80 or higher qualifies a building for “Platinum” status. Implementing a scoring system is a method of allowing green buildings to be compared to each other and indicates the level of environmental sustainability each property has in place.
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