EIKA Business Centre, located at A. Goštauto Street, Vilnius, has been awarded with the international BREEAM In Use Certificate for Sustainable Building, which evaluates both newly constructed and existing or reconstructed buildings worldwide. This standard emphasizes the value of efficient buildings throughout their lifetime. The BREEAM standard assesses nine different aspects of a building: management, health and well-being, energy, transport, water, materials, waste, land use and ecology, and pollution. Buildings that meet the criteria are considered sustainable, and significantly improve the well-being of the people who live and work in them. They help to preserve natural resources and make property more attractive for future investment.
Both the building owners and the employees of the companies located here are interested in meeting the criteria for a sustainable building because it means efficient use of energy resources and significantly lower operating costs, as well as improved comfort for the people. “Increasingly, customers want to include a condition in the lease to have a building evaluated by BREEAM or another similar sustainable building certificate; we see a tendency which becomes a new standard,” says EIKA director of the property department, Giedrius Brūzgė.
In order to obtain the BREEAM certificate, the project of the building and documentation of all engineering systems are required to verify that this information has been correctly implemented in reality. Then, they provide notes on what and how it needs to be changed in order to achieve the desired goal. The most acceptable ones are selected, then implemented and evaluated. The process is managed by a certified Lithuanian company, and the BREEAM certificate is issued by the representatives from the United Kingdom.
Although the EIKA Business Centre was built fifteen years ago, a relatively small number of improvements were required to obtain the BREEAM certificate. The following solutions were implemented:
- the installation of twelve nesting-boxes on the roof for the birds
- creation of additional landscaping areas
- reduction of water consumption
- replacement of inefficient light fixtures with LED lights
- assessment and improvement of artificial lighting in workplaces
- improvement of building protection systems
- flood risk assessment
- an emergency evacuation plan was created
Everyone who works in EIKA Business Centre should feel the immediate benefit of the BREEAM certificate.
The Business Centre already met a number of important criteria necessary to be a sustainable building; therefore, no significant changes were needed. For example, it had been inspected whether the building’s engineering systems are properly maintained by the responsible companies, how the waste is sorted, and whether the building is adapted to the future changes in the layout of the premises. “Both twin buildings of the EIKA Business Centre were given a ‘Very Good’ assessment, which is what we wanted to achieve. This is a really great achievement, considering that this level of evaluation is usually only received by newly built business centres. For example, our Business Centre Žalgirio 135 was built just a few years ago and has this certificate. In addition, our newest Business Centre LIVE SQUARE is currently completing an ‘Excellent’ evaluation process” says Giedrius Brūzgė. In Lithuania, only twelve other business centres have previously been awarded with BREEAM certificates.