Eko Echo - Echo Investment introduces new standard for its sustainable residential building
Buyers of an apartment more and more often want to know how their apartment will affect the surroundings, whether it will allow them to lead a sustainable lifestyle and whether its construction was carried out with respect for the natural environment and its resources. That is why Echo Investment introduces a proprietary system for evaluating residential buildings in terms of ecology, responsible construction, amenities and impact on health. Transparent criteria will allow you to evaluate each new project. The developer has already analyzed six residential investments, including Zenit in Łódź and Tower Jeżyce in Poznań.
The Eko Echo sustainable construction standard is a housing investment evaluation system developed by Echo Investment's internal assessors: architects, health and safety specialists and construction engineers. Each building can score 100 points in four categories: ECOLOGY (20 points), HEALTH (20 points), CONSTRUCTION (20 points) and FACILITIES (40 points). The ECOLOGY category checks green solutions used in the building and its immediate vicinity, including the long-term impact of the investment on biodiversity, the percentage of biologically active area and the type of technology used to heat the building. Points in the HEALTH section are awarded for investment elements that have a positive impact on the safety and physical and mental health of residents, including spaces for integration or relaxation, solutions guaranteeing optimal sunlight or monitoring air quality. The evaluation criteria in the CONSTRUCTION category concern both the quality of the materials used, the safety of employees at this stage of work, and the impact of the works on the immediate vicinity. The assessment here covers, inter alia, the level of waste segregation, the origin of the wood, or a sustainable procurement plan reducing the carbon footprint. The last and most comprehensive category - FACILITIES - was created on the basis of conversations with customers and their needs. As many as 10 points are assessed for the location of the building - distance from means of transport, educational and cultural institutions, green areas or bicycle paths. Further points are awarded for above-standard solutions that improve the comfort of using the apartment, including Smart technologies, flexrooms that can be used as a space for social meetings or work, or an open parcel locker in the estate. A point can be obtained for meeting a specific condition or level in such a way that the assessment is as objective as possible and leaves no doubt. The six-point grading scale, which corresponds to the system used in Polish schools, allows you to compare how pro-ecologically advanced a given building is.
"We have developed a program that allows for the assessment of residential buildings in terms of meeting the strict international requirements, the most urgent customer needs and current ESG trends. Environmental and user impact assessment is already a standard tool for verifying the quality of commercial buildings. We know from experience that it is equally important for buyers of flats for their own needs and for investment clients, although the assessment standards available on the market are incomprehensible and too expensive for clients. That is why we decided to use our experts from various fields to propose a proprietary evaluation system that is understandable, unambiguous and allows you to choose the best place to live for years. Our goal is to ensure that by 2024 half of the buildings that are being started achieve a very good level, and in the following years - excellent," says Dawid Wrona, sales director of Echo Investment.
Customer satisfaction surveys conducted by Echo Investment show that every third (34%) customer pays attention to whether his apartment meets high environmental standards. The growing interest in this issue is growing very quickly: in 2020 this issue was important for 26% of respondents.
"The Eko Echo standard was created after months of analyzes, dozens of visits to construction sites and talks with experts on sustainable development. We needed a comparative scale for our investments that would allow us to build more friendly and sustainable housing estates year after year. The Eko Echo scale can be applied to each of our buildings and objectively assessed, which has more amenities for residents, is more ecologically designed or made. These factors are increasingly important to customers. Public discussions on the future of Poland's energy sector will make buyers more and more likely to expect developers to create maximally self-sufficient and sustainable housing estates," says Agnieszka Kozdęba, director of the architects department in the residential complex.
The gradually tightening requirements of the European Union regarding the energy efficiency of solutions used in construction or the growing importance of ESG reporting are other factors driving the developments in the Polish housing sector. The team of Echo experts is aware of these changes and for years has been implementing city-forming projects in accordance with the latest global trends in urban planning, such as ecology, sharing economy, promoting public transport, walking and cycling. An inseparable element of Echo Investment's projects is greenery and investments in appropriate infrastructure that serves the entire local community, e.g. by improving the local road network, aesthetics, functionality and safety level. Additionally, thanks to these investments, the city gains a new social space.
