Green buildings not distant dream

ISTANBUL - Low environmental impact "green" buildings have already been operating for many years in many parts of the world. Now these eco-friendly buildings, designed to use resources like energy and water efficiently, are becoming a reality for businesses in Turkey as well. The first green building in Turkey will be the Siemens factory now under construction in Gebze in the Marmara region. Siemens is preparing to acquire a globally recognized green certificate from The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Rating System, or LEED. In a press release about the building, Siemens Turkey CEO, Hüseyin Gelis, said the factory would be the most environmentally friendly building in Turkey. "It is foreseen that 2009 will be a difficult year for Turkey energy-wise. Everyone says we must build new plants to produce energy, but actually, the first thing to do is increase energy efficiency. We, at Siemens, aim to reduce our energy consumption by 25 percent over the next five years," he said. There are currently five or six green buildings under construction in Turkey. Most of these buildings aim to receive a green certificate from globally recognized organizations like LEED from the United States or BREEAM from the United Kingdom. There is no national green certificate in Turkey that would provide a blueprint and an incentive for green construction. Much of Turkey’s progress in this area is due to the Green Building Association, or ÇEDBİK, which was founded by Ali Nihat Gökyiğit and Duygu Erten in 2007. ÇEDBİK organized the first of a series of training sessions about green buildings and global environmental certification systems at the Yıldız Technical University in Istanbul on Jan. 10. Erten, one of the co-founders of ÇEDBİK, said one of the main goals of her association is to fill an important gap and "create a leadership certificate in environment and energy design that would support the standardization and application of this certificate system in new buildings throughout the nation." Erten is one of the first people in Turkey to become a "green assessor," a professional eligible to determine how green is a building. Erten said green buildings could only become standard practice in Turkey if the government lends a hand. "A large part of the responsibility falls upon the Public Works Ministry. Many countries now require each new building to be in line with sustainable construction practices. If you ask me, TOKİ, the Housing Development Administration of Turkey, should be constructing only green buildings from now on." She said some Turkish construction companies are very interested in developing green projects. Among them is Soyak Construction. Their Mavişehir project in İzmir is an example of the company’s commitment to sustainable living. Head of the corporate communications department at Soyak, Fatma Çelenk, said they have "used environmentally friendly materials in every step of the construction process for Mavişehir," including for air conditioners that utilize eco-friendly gases, energy-saving lighting systems, modern insulation systems, double-glazed windows that filter ultraviolet rays, and batteries with sensors that save water by up to 50 percent. "We have worked with a British consulting firm to make sure we meet the green construction standards of Building Research Establishment (BRE)," said Çelenk. Another recent initiative comes from the Ankara OSTIM Industrial Area, which is renovating its administrative building to meet the highest level of green building standards, the LEED platinum standard.