“EIKA Business Center”, located on A. Goštauto Street, Vilnius, has been awarded the international sustainable building certificate BREEAM In Use, which assesses both newly constructed and already used or reconstructed buildings worldwide. This standard emphasizes the value of efficiently operating buildings throughout their entire life cycle. The BREEAM standard assesses nine different aspects of a building: management, health and well-being, energy, transport, water, materials, waste, land use and ecology, pollution. Buildings that meet the criteria are considered sustainable and significantly improve the well-being of the people living and working in them, help protect natural resources and make the property more attractive for future investments.
Both the building owners and the employees of the companies located here are interested in meeting the criteria of a sustainable building, as this means efficient use of energy resources and significantly lower operating costs, as well as greater comfort for people. “Increasingly, clients want to include a condition in the lease agreement that the building be assessed with BREEAM or another similar sustainable building certificate, we see a trend that this is becoming a new standard,” says Giedrius Brūzgė, Director of the Property Department at EIKA.
In order to obtain a BREEAM certificate, it is necessary to submit a building design and documents for all engineering systems, and it is checked whether this information has been correctly implemented in reality. Then, comments are made on what and how needs to be changed to achieve the set goal. The most acceptable proposals are selected from these proposals, they are implemented and evaluated. During the process, a certified Lithuanian company provides advice, and representatives from the United Kingdom issue the BREEAM certificate.
Although the EIKA Business Center was built fifteen years ago, relatively few improvements were required to obtain the BREEAM certificate. The following solutions were implemented: twelve birdhouses were installed on the roof and additional green areas were added, water consumption was reduced, uneconomical lighting was replaced with LED type, artificial lighting in workplaces was assessed and improved, the building’s security systems were improved and updated, a flood risk assessment was performed, and an emergency evacuation plan was adjusted. Every person working in the business center should directly benefit from the BREEAM certificate.
The business center met several important criteria for a sustainable building and no changes were required at all. For example, it was checked whether the responsible companies properly maintain the building’s engineering systems, how waste is sorted, and whether the building is adapted to changing the layout of the premises in the future. “Both twin buildings of the EIKA business center were given the “Very Good” rating, which is what we were aiming for. This is a truly great achievement, considering that only recently built business centers usually receive such a rating, for example, our business center “Žalgirio 135”, built just a few years ago, also received it, and our latest business center, LIVE SQUARE, is currently completing the “Excellent” rating process,” says Giedrius Brūzgė. In Lithuania, only twelve other already built business centers have received BREEAM certificates.