The certification of sustainable cities in Romania is progressing at a slow pace due to the “resistance” of municipalities, but the smart transformation of cities is just beginning. “Things are going quite hard because there is resistance from the municipalities and because (…) it was very difficult to find dedicated people who would really get involved in this,” said Andrei Botiș, CEO of NAI Romania & Moldova and president of the Romania Green Building Council (ROGBC) association, at the “Smart Cities” conference, organized by Energynomics.
In recent years, the association has succeeded, together with the Embassy of the Swiss Confederation, in awarding the titles of Sustainable Community for the cities of Cluj-Napoca, Iași, Alba-Iulia, Turda, and Vama Buzăului.
According to Botiș, in 2012, Cluj scored only 27 points in the first audit carried out to evaluate the status of a sustainable city, but after ten years it reached 45 points, the highest score of a city in Romania at this time. “Even if ten years have passed, it is the shortest period in which a city has obtained such a high score at the European level”, added Botiș.
The ROGBC association has the role of creating and developing the voluntary certification program for residential buildings “Green Homes by ROGBC”.
In Romania, more than 15,000 homes from more than 50 residential complexes are certified, with a market value of more than 2 billion euros. “In Bucharest, things are moving well in the last two or three years. (…) As for smart cities, the smartness of cities is just starting,” Botiș said.
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He specified that the city of Cluj is an example of good practice because the municipality decided in 2013 to reduce taxes for green buildings, which stimulated real estate developers to build in compliance with the requirements for such buildings.
The “Smart Cities” conference was organized by Energynomics, with the support of our partners, among them ABB, ENGIE Romania, Finder, Flash Lighting Services, Photomate, REI Group, SIXT.