Government Gets Involved In The Green Building Concept Build Green Cee

The Romanian government has only just started to involve itself in the green building concept but the new attitudes are gaining momentum. A host of Romanian public administration officials took the floor during the second and closing day of the Build Green CEE conference in Bucharest, Romania.

At the example of the EU Directive 1992/01 on energy efficiency of buildings, Romania started drafting an action plan intended to cut Romania's building fund greenhouse gas emissions and energy users. The action plan is yet to be endorsed but will seek to regulatorily require all owners of buildings to implement measures such as thermal insulation of buildings' outer walls, as well as use more environmentally-friendly methods for heating and cooling homes.

Currently, 97 per cent of Romania's buildings and 61 per cent of the dwellings are in private ownership. They are still resistant to implementing measures,
Florin Andrei, deputy secretary general at the Romanian Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development, said, referring to the ongoing plan for thermal rehabilitation programme launched countrywide.

For this reason, only a few dozens of blocs of flats since programme launch have undergone rehabilitation by now.

Emilia Cerna-Mladin, from the Association of Energy Auditors, underscored the need to align the entire building stock to environmental regulations. Although energy certification of buildings, which formally attests compliance, is mandatory for all buildings it is unrealistic to expect that this regulation will be implemented in full any time soon because a number of local authorities are yet to legislate penalties for failing to do so.

Others, though, have introduced the national regulation, which allocates in equal portions between the government, local authorities and the owner of the building the costs of thermally rehabilitating a particular building.

At the governmental level, Romania is heading toward embracing the green public procurement concept, which in northern Europe has been ongoing for 20 years.

The government has already started purchasing environmentally friendly goods such as energy efficient electric bulbs, eco stationery, among others.sofiaecho.com