Green construction concept debated, Kazakh Government/UNDP/GEF project

Green construction, as a main trend in construction, aimed at energy and materials efficiency within the building life-cycle, was the starting point of discussion. Speakers of the seminar presented the key principles of the green construction, touched upon the issues of its development and advancement in Kazakhstan. The event gathered construction designers, architects, and representatives of the big construction companies from Kazakhstan, the press service of the UNDP in Kazakhstan reports.

"Today, the question of energy efficiency is not only on the agenda of ecological foundations and developed countries. The draft law "On energy efficiency", recently presented in the Government of RK, is a good example of its importance for Kazakhstan", said Bayan Abylkairova, UNDP/GEF Project Manager.

Today, the residential sector is the third-leading energy consumer in the country, after the energy and manufacturing sectors. As of 2009, Kazakhstan's existing residential building stock comprises approximately 160 million square meters, the large majority of which is aging, inefficient buildings constructed in the Soviet era. On average, buildings in Kazakhstan consume two to three times more energy per unit of floor area than buildings in northern countries of Western Europe.

On the whole, the "Passive building - energy efficiency" seminar became the dialogue platform for the questions of energy-efficient technologies and materials in construction sector and its further development and popularization in Kazakhstan.