SJSC "State Real Estate" (SRE) continues to carry out a series of energy efficiency measures in the building at 1 Talejas Street, Riga, which will make it possible to reduce the amount of energy resources consumed by 10% by the end of the year, compared to 2021. The capital company has sent recommendations for energy saving measures to 13 public sector institutions that are located in buildings managed by SRE, which will allow them to save energy resources in the amount of 10% in total, informs SRE Board Member Andris Vārna.
In accordance with the strategy of sustainable operation and property management implemented by SRE, the capital company has been systematically implementing energy saving measures since the beginning of 2019, including 94% of the buildings managed by the capital company that have been issued energy certificates by the end of 2021. In 2019, during the transition to the new office, the energy consumption of the office was reduced by 65%.
"SRE is actively working on the implementation of sustainable and energy-efficient solutions not only for its customers, but also in its daily life. Without waiting for the onset of a global crisis, we timely changed our daily habits to use more sustainable solutions in our daily life," says A. Vārna.
Until the middle of summer 2022, in the Talejas Street building, where employees from such institutions as SRS, SLI, LSRTC, LRP and SSIA are located, energy consumption sensors will be connected to the building management system, adjustable external solar blinds will be installed, which reduce indoor and structural heating. The building's cooling system is equipped with a cold storage tank in which the energy stored during the night period can be used for cooling during the day, when the price of electricity is higher than at night. Also, the cooling settings of the premises have been changed, the parking lot lighting has been changed to energy-efficient LED lighting, and the facade lighting has been reduced.
Already at the end of 2021, an increase in the prices of energy resources was observed, which escalated when the hostilities in Ukraine began. In accordance with the emergency situation of energy resources introduced in the country, in the near future the valves of the ventilation ducts in the unleased premises of the Talejas Street building vacated by the SRS will be closed. It is planned to introduce cooling of certain parts of the building using "night ventilation", optimise the capacity and volume of the hot water space heaters, replace the lighting in the stairwells to energy-efficient LED lighting by installing motion sensors for lighting between floors.
At the same time, SRE also conducts the research of other long-term energy saving solutions, which will allow reduction of the amount of electricity required for the building, resulting in savings of approximately 77 thousand euro in total. Scenarios to be considered – reducing the amount of used premises, changing the office work schedule to three working days a week, or not using separate parts of the building.
"We are going one step further – we are changing both our habits and also helping our customers. We have developed recommendations based on experts’ experience, which will also allow our customers to reduce the amount of required resources. However, the newly introduced energy saving measures will be effective only if we all critically evaluate the efficiency of the used resources and are ready to adapt to the new situation. For example, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (ĀM) and the Ministry of Culture have already given up facade lighting for several properties, and are also planning to introduce more energy-efficient lighting solutions that will reduce the consumption of energy resources," explains Vārna.
The capital company has developed recommendations for reducing energy resource consumption for 13 public sector tenants and the institutions under their subordination. In the suggestions made by the SRE, it is proposed to reduce the number of on-site working days, promoting the possibilities of remote work, equipping hot water volume heaters with time switches for switching off outside working hours, replacing lighting with LED lighting devices. It is planned to change the facade lighting settings of several buildings – the institutions of the Ministry of the Interior (IeM), ĀM, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Justice and their subordinate institutions. The most significant savings from the reduction or transformation of the lighting of facades and areas will be in 3 Krišjāņa Valdemāra Street (ĀM), 1 Talejas Street (SRE and State Revenue Service) and Čiekurkalna Line 1 (IeM). Until now, in the public sector buildings managed by SRE, heating units have been purposefully renovated and modernised, buildings have been insulated, energy-efficient lighting has been built, etc. in order to save state financial resources which can be directed to other purposes.
SRE provides professional real estate management and administration for approximately 365 real estate properties consisting of 1100 buildings with a total floor area of 0.95 million square metres, along with land beneath the buildings covering 602 hectares and more than 3536 land properties with an area of 903 hectares. SRE is one of 23 Latvian companies that has received the highest platinum award as part of the Sustainability Index of the Institute of Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability, confirming the good governance and sustainability of its operations. The company was founded in 1996 and is 100% owned by the Ministry of Finance.
