Outlet Village Belaya Dacha: how to become "excellent"

For the innovations already in place, the facility easily passed the Very Good score, but the owners (the international development company Hines) decided to refine the project to Excellent. As a result of the work in the Asset category Outlet Village Belaya Dacha scored 75.73 points (Excellent) instead of 57.31 points (Very Good), and in Building Management - earned 77.33 points (Excellent) instead of 42.4 points (Good).

Characteristic features

The owners had originally planned to certify Outlet Village Belaya Dacha under BREEAM, which made the task of the appraisers much easier: the fundamental criteria had been achieved at the construction stage. It only remained to make operational improvements to achieve a higher rating. It was not even the improvements themselves which took more time (no major changes were made at the site) but rather the paperwork created at the construction stage and required some time later for certification. Nevertheless, Outlet Village Belaya Dacha management took the certification seriously - studies on background noise, lighting quality and other studies were conducted.

Energy consumption

There is an opinion that the outlet format in Russia is less popular than a closed shopping center. Russia is a country with a harsh climate, so shopping in the street seems a dubious pleasure. On the other hand, this format allows the owner to save on energy consumption, because there is no need to heat the street unlike the huge halls of shopping centers. This raises another question - how to organize the opening and closing of the doors with minimal energy losses. But this is an operational issue that can easily be solved.

Water consumption

Initially, the facility had already installed plumbing with the ability to use water more economically. All faucets in the visitors' areas were equipped with infrared sensors and all offices were retrofitted with flow restrictors. Likewise, all showers were retrofitted with flow restrictors for certification. The facility uses washing machines and dishwashers with a high energy efficiency class. All rooms are also equipped with special Multical heat and water meters, which also signal leaks. The aerators were replaced in preparation for certification.
In Outlet there is an ingenious arrangement of snow-melting system: as the pedestrian flows along the street (and in Russia it can be slippery in winter), the paths are heated. And all the water from snowmelt is collected in the sewage system, where water purification is also performed on the territory.

Health and well-being

For BREEAM In-Use, the issue of employee comfort in the workplace is of great importance. And Outlet Village Belaya Dacha has thought this issue through perfectly. Usually the administration office is located in a back room at the back of the sales halls. Workplaces in Outlet Village Belaya Dacha are located in a separate building with windows and all the amenities. Besides, all coolers in the offices were replaced with running coolers during the certification process, and such coolers were installed in each lobby of public restrooms.

The handicapped bathrooms in the Outlet are interestingly equipped with a strobe light system. During evacuations, special lights start flashing so that hearing-impaired people can recognize the alarm sign.

Land use and ecology

Often at large retail facilities, the adjacent territory is competently arranged and landscaping is organized. Owners understand that nowadays retail is not just a place where purchases are made, it is a center of attraction, a leisure center. Therefore, not only the stores themselves but also the area around them should be pleasing to the eye. Outlet Village Belaya Dacha has its own "highlight" in this sense: the grove on the Outlet territory was equipped with birdhouses. It also added points for certification. All these little things are important and add up to one big "green" picture.

Waste

Usually, assessors have to give owners and tenants some kind of literacy and help with contacts of specialized companies so that separate garbage collection functions properly. At Hines this issue was worked out from the beginning - the assessors only had to fix compressed bottles, cardboard, etc.

Management

В Outlet Village Белая Дача внедрена система раздельного учета: все арендаторы имеют отдельные приборы учета энерго-, водопотребления. Все данные по приборам консолидируются в системе управления здания BMS (Building Management System).

Outlet Village Belaya Dacha has implemented a separate metering system: all tenants have separate meters for energy and water consumption. All data on the meters is consolidated in the BMS (Building Management System).

There are two categories in BREEAM In-Use: Building Management and Asset. The rating of the Building Management part is very much influenced by the environmental policy of the object. Basically it is about formalizing procedures in the organizational documentation and operation of the building. It is possible to write down the necessary measures on paper, but not implement them systematically. In this case it will be difficult to achieve the desired effect. It is the same in environmental policy: every day we strive systematically to reduce consumption - of energy, water, landfill waste, biodiversity, comfort. For each of these areas there is a regular report, which allows the management company to properly plan activities for the next year. A lot depends on the maintenance service, and it often depends on the individual engineer on site. At Hines, this work is clearly put in place.

All Hines facilities have their own Hines Go Green program for tenants to increase their environmental awareness. It's a kind of mini-certification within Hines. Let's say a tenant participated in the training program and scored 70 out of 100 on the HinesGoGreen criteria - they are awarded a plaque and given a certain status. Tenants are very enthusiastic about this "certification" and are proud of their results.

Preparing for the new certification

Since the certificate was obtained in 2018, OutletVillage Belaya Dacha is expected to be re-certified in 2021. But BREEAM In-Use is preparing a new version, which includes stricter requirements for various indicators. So we will have to "run faster to stay in place" as part of our next certification.