Our principles
Green construction as a part of Green World Economy is growing rapidly. This growth is based on constantly improving principal concepts. After having analyzed them, we create our own image of green transformations according to circumstances we are in. Thus, we clarify the logic of our action to us and our partners and synchronize specific steps.
Sustainable construction.
Areas and methods of influence.
Sustainable construction seeks to achieve a balanced result in three interrelated areas:
Human health, comfort and productivity
To achieve this goal, we use five methods:
Resilience of nature
Construction threatens nature in different aspects.
In brief, the main of them are:
Degradation of ecosystems
Caused by mining activity, woodworking industry, and new construction when natural areas are destroyed.
Due to construction and other human activities the planet losses around 10 million hectares of forest each year.
Global warming
Such processes as production of materials and equipment, construction and operation of construction facilities generate greenhouse gas emissions.
Construction is responsible for 64% of annual global CO2 emissions.
Environmental pollution
Production of materials and construction contaminates the air, water and soil with substances that are harmful to the environment and human health.
Production of 1m3 of concrete releases 6 kg of dust into the air, causing severe respiratory diseases.
Garbage
Construction is a source of non-recyclable waste. The main volume is caused by demolition.
Construction and production generate about 28% of garbage in landfills.
Aware of the damage caused by humans to the nature, we change our behavior: refuse single-use products, separate and recycle waste, use bicycles and public transport, prefer local products, use plants to clean the air — thus we, as consumers, understand advantages and current difficulties of going green, based on our own experience.
Experience in the top cities, public organizations, and businesses helps us to extend green approaches to the professional area.
We propagate green competencies among colleagues, transform engineering and construction approaches, include more green solutions in our projects, and influence related industries.
Preservation of nature begins with you
Ways to conserve nature
Interrelated areas
Human health, comfort, productivity
Environmental degradation has a negative impact on each of us. Environmental pollution, noise exposure, microclimate disturbance in buildings, lack of contact with nature in the cities cause health problems from temporal discomfort to the development of chronic diseases. Health deterioration leads to loss of concentration and productivity of our activity.
Green construction has a wide range of tools to solve these problems
5-10 years
green construction according to various estimates cost is more expensive than a common one.
For example, site landscaping performed by biodiversity rules requires less care and buildings maintain their functional features longer if they are designed using circular strategies.
Investments in green construction pay off, saving money during operation
Task. Economic rationality
4-16%
payback period for green construction. After that, the object saves money due to lower electricity and heat consumption, reduction of resources for its maintenance.
Integrated team
The result of a project — common or sustainable one — depends on competencies of participants. But there are several significant differences:
- Project participants do not just do their part of the work and leave, but remain engaged in the project from engineering part to the end of object operation. Of course, involvement grade varies, still it is enough to convert an indifferent “I’ve done my job” into the interest towards object functioning, real numbers of generated ecological footprint, operation costs. These data become an experience, allowing to improve design solutions in future.
- The consolidation of knowledge and experience of team increases, including ecologists, biologists, climatologists, specialists in carbon footprint calculation, circular design, local biodiversity, green financing and economy, etc.
- Project participants share principles of Sustainable Development and integrate them into daily routine.
The more participants follow the Sustainable Development Goals, the greener is the project
Influence tactics
Decrease of carbon footprint
Carbon footprint consists of embodied carbon and operational footprint.
Circular Design Strategies are used to reduce embodied carbon, meanwhile Bioclimatic Architecture, Passive and Active engineering solutions help to decrease operational footprint.
Carbon footprint is the most simple and complete equivalent of ecological footprint of the building project
Embodied carbon
includes CO2 emissions from mining operations necessary for material production to building commissioning.
Operational footprint
Is generated during building operation and is divided into 3 parts:
- Direct corporate carbon footprint.
- Indirect carbon footprint caused by consumed sources and energy.
- Indirect carbon footprint generated by upstream and downstream processes of production chain.
Circular economy
Since the Industrial Revolution, humanity tends to act linearly: take resources of nature, manufacture some goods, use them and throw them away. This attitude led to resource crisis, waste problems, environmental pollution, and global climate change.
Now we are learning from nature to create time-stable systems. Linear economy transforms into Circular and further — into Bioeconomy. Endless GDP growth is replaced by the balance between natural resources and human needs.
A circular economy is an approach confirmed by the vast successful experience of many different countries, that shows a transition to sustainable solutions in many human activities
To understand
Circular design strategies
For building engineering and design of environmental objects we use three strategies that allow us to come closer to circular processes in construction.
Each strategy contains a wide range of tools used for different project areas: architecture, landscape, engineering systems, interior design.
Due to circular design strategies, the project team reduces embodied carbon of the object, reduces resource consumption, environmental pollution and waste generation
Building life cycle
The project team expands the limits of the flow of material resources used in construction. We take into account not only construction phase, but also revise the beginning and the end of material flow.
On the one side, it is the extraction of raw materials, production, and transportation of materials. On the other side, it is how the building will operate and finally be demolished.
Awareness of the team regarding the life cycle of materials used for construction improves the sustainability of the object
Biodiversity conservation
Every day 150 species become extinct on Earth. Scientists estimate that over the next decade 10 % of all plants and animals on the planet could become extinct. How does it threaten us and why it is important to oppose it?
The bigger is biodiversity, the more stables are ecosystems, in other words, nature has more power for balance and self-recovery, therefore we are better protected against hunger, lack of resources, environmental pollution, and impossibility of outdoor recreation.
