Vastint Lithuania’s Business Garden Vilnius has been internationally praised for its sustainability solutions. After earning 95 points from the international LEED rating system, the business centre received the highest certification ‒ Platinum. There are only 30 buildings around the world and 10 buildings in Europe that received such a certification score or higher. Until now, a result this high had not been achieved by any new office building in the Baltic States.
According to Kestutis Vedeckis, Managing Director at Vastint Lithuania, the company’s solutions are based on a long-term and sustainability-based approach when developing real estate business.
“For this reason, the consumption of energy resources and whether the materials used during construction are environmentally friendly are all assessed at the design stage. Green office buildings are the future of this real estate segment, so high-quality business centres that meet the changing needs of the market will receive more and more interest from potential tenants and investors,” says Mr Vedeckis.
The number of new buildings in Europe that received the highest LEED Platinum certification is 350, but only 10 of them have scored a rating of 95 or more. The Business Garden Vilnius business park is one of them. Moreover, according to the results of the certification system, as many as 5 out of the 10 highest-scored buildings in Europe are projects developed and owned by Vastint.
According to Indrė Narauskaitė, Head of Office Solutions at the international real estate consulting company Newsec, the LEED Platinum certification received by Business Garden Vilnius is an important achievement not only for Vilnius but also for the entire Baltic office market.
“This signals the maturity of the office market and the construction of the highest quality buildings, which are important for tenants as well as for investors and developers entering the market. Undoubtedly, the objects holding the LEED Platinum certification attract greater attention from tenants who comply with sustainability provisions in their activities” says Ms Narauskaitė.
This expert from Newsec also adds that the certification shows the developer’s long-term and responsible attitude towards the real estate development business.
The LEED rating system, developed in the United States, assesses the environmental characteristics of buildings such as their innovation, sustainability, energy use indicators, as well as specific requirements for the quality of construction materials, etc. LEED project certification is carried out in more than 150 countries, including the USA, Canada, European and Scandinavian countries.
Implemented environmentally friendly solutions
The certificate-winning project Business Garden Vilnius is located on a territory of 6.2 ha, next to the exhibition and congress centre Litexpo and the Lazdynai forest. During its first phase, two office buildings were built here, with 42,000 m2 of rentable office space and commercial premises.
The business park is equipped with basketball, football, volleyball, and beach tennis courts, sports and wellness centres, cycling and walking paths, community events and cooperation spaces, as well as the largest green spaces between business centres in Lithuania.
During the development of the business park project sustainability was always a key priority. During the construction process, the facade and structural system were made from a durable material ‒ white concrete, and energy-saving solutions were introduced that reduce the energy costs of buildings. The decision was also made to use a large number of open windows, which allows for natural ventilation of rooms and reduces energy consumption for cooling.
Business Garden Vilnius also produces its own green energy ‒ a solar power plant with a capacity of 199.8 kWp is installed on the roof of the business park. It is estimated that it will produce almost 190,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity per year and will save nearly 25 tonnes of CO2.
Currently, more than 50% of the office and commercial premises (over 20,000 m2) are already leased in Business Garden Vilnius.
The premises were rented by Amber Grid, Ignitis Group, the US IT company Rocket Software. Contracts were signed with the Danish-capital company COWI Lietuva, restaurant iLunch, personnel selection company Alliance for Recruitment, Studio Moderna, which develops the brands Top Shop, Delimano and Dormeo, health studio FØRMA, a private medical clinic, the coffee-shop chain Caffeine, and the logistics company cargoGO.