Annual awards for Green Building and Sustainable Development

„It is my great honor to receive this award, and it means that much more coming from our experts in our profession, especially as this award gives recognition to all the work done in Ministry of Construction and Physical Planning. Thank you for recognizing our work in promoting green building and sustainable development. We’ll continue to work in the upcoming period, especially on energy renovation of buildings, but will also develop implementable measures for improving the living environment in the new financial framework and we believe we will be successful at it”, said Ines Androić Brajčić, Head of Sector for European Union Projects, International and EU Affairs at the Ministry of Construction and Physical Planning while accepting the Annual award for Green Building and Sustainable Development in Person of the Year category. 

In her award acceptance speech Androić Brajčić stressed how Ministry will use green infrastructure and circular management of spaces and buildings to directly influence sustainable and green development of urban areas. Since the European Commission set out a European Green Deal last week, aiming to transform Europe into climate neutral continent and simultaneously strengthen the economy and improve the health and life quality of European citizens, we believe that green infrastructure and circular management of spaces and buildings projects will be co-financed with grants from European structural and investment funds. 

Alongside the preparations for the upcoming Call for energy renovation of residential buildings, whose publishing is announced towards the end of January 2020, Ministry is cooperating with Faculty of Architecture in developing two new programs for the 2021 – 2030 framework, Green Infrastructure Development in Urban Areas Program and Circular Management of Spaces and Buildings Development Program. 

Equally, as a prerequisite to these two programs, green infrastructure definition was introduced to the Physical Planning Act, circular management of spaces and buildings were accentuated as important spatial planning principles, and newest amendments in Building Act defined the Croatian governments obligation to pass these two programs. 

Irena Križ Šelendić, Head of Sector for Energy Efficiency in the Buildings Sector, thanked for the award and to all the associates at the Ministry of Construction and Physical Planning, mentioning that this award is recognition of her ten-year work in promoting energy efficiency in buildings and decarbonization of buildings. She mentioned that Ministry will continue to promote nearly-zero energy buildings, draft the Long-term strategy on renovation of the national building stock until 2050, and new programs for energy renovation of buildings. 

She thanked all who participated at the Open dialogue of partners and partner signatories of the Cooperation charter to decarbonize buildings until 2050. Ministry organized four partners open dialogues so far and will continue to do so as good and useful example of interaction between government bodies and real sector. 

The following partners also joined the event as signatories of the Charter: HFC GRUPA Ltd., Caparol Ltd., Rudan Ltd., JUB trgovina i promet Ltd., SAINT GOBAIN construction products Croatia, Fabrika arhitekata Ltd., Ytong porobeton Ltd., Experto crede Ltd., MAPEI Croatia Ltd., Planetaris Ltd., AGC Flat Glass Adriatic Ltd. and Petračić projekt Ltd..

This was the second year in a row that the Annual Green Building and Sustainable Development Awards organized by three associations, Croatia Green Building Council, Croatian Association of Thermal-Facade System Manufacturers and Croatian Association of Energy Certifiers, gathered around the RENOVATE CROATIA campaign. The awards intend to raise the professions reputation in the eyes of general and expert public, promote excellence, constant improvement of good business and circular management principles in order to preserve the environment and raise the quality of lives of people. 

One of six award categories is the Person of the Year category, acknowledging and recognizing persons who were particularly prominent in promoting green building and sustainable development. This year for the first time the Person of the Year award was given to two people, Ines Androić Brajčić and Irena Križ Šelendić for promoting green building and sustainable development.