Parkview, the office building completed last year in Prague’s Pankrác district, has been awarded the highest LEED Platinum environmental certification, which evaluates efficient operation and minimal environmental impact. With 97 points, the project by Skanska is the second most sustainable office building in the world completed in 2020, according to available data.
The acquired LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification is the most widespread global system for appraising sustainable buildings. Within the Core & Shell v3 category, Parkview received the same number of points as the Praga Studios administrative building in Karlín, completed a year earlier also by Skanska.
“The latest success in LEED evaluation confirms that we are managing to fulfil our long-term objective – to build projects with maximum respect for their surrounding and the environment as such. In the past three years, we have completed three projects in Prague which are among the greenest buildings in the world. I believe that not just our tenants, but also the entire neighbourhood of the projects benefits from the energy-saving and environmentally-friendly solutions,” says Eva Nykodymová, Sustainability Manager in Skanska commercial development business in Central and Eastern Europe.
Extraordinary water and energy savings
During the certification process, a team of specialists evaluated the Parkview building in seven different categories. It earned full amount of points in the categories of drinking water savings, which is up to 40%. This is thanks to the effective plumbing, toilet fittings and rainwater collection, which is used to irrigate vegetation.
The project also keeps in mind the substantial reduction of energy consumption. The U-shaped layout provides sufficient, even and natural lighting for all tenants, while electricity is saved using LED lighting with motion detectors, a high-quality façade, cooling beams and elevators with energy recuperation.
The building also earned high amount of points for its location, specifically 27 of the 28 possible points. This category favours the use of brownfields or alternative means of transport. Tenants at Parkview can use facilities for cyclists, as well as excellent public transport access. The project also earned the full point score in the subcategories of reducing heat island effect and light pollution.
Healthy workplace
All the buildings, which Skanska has completed in the Czech Republic in the past seven years have successfully earned LEED certification. The aforementioned Praga Studios project and the Visionary building in Holešovice were among the 10 greenest buildings in the world last year due to the high point scores.
“With every project, we consider how the building will affect the people inside, as well as its impact on the environment outside. With Parkview, we are also aiming for WELL certification, which appraises high-quality, healthy and comfortable work environments. Our project has already earned a WELL Health-Safety Rating certificate, specially modified to meet the needs related to the coronavirus pandemic, adds Eva Nykodymová.
Parkview was designed by the famous New York architectural studio Richard Meier & Partners in cooperation with Czech studio Cuboid Archtekti. The building offers a total of 16,000 m2 of leasable space on nine floors in the well-established business district of Pankrác in Prague.