AFI Ploiesti shopping centre, owned by AFI Europe Romania, received the LEED Gold Certification within the “green” building rating system of the United States Green Building Council. AFI Ploiesti becomes, thus, the only building in town to have achieved the LEED Certification.
AFI Ploiesti received the LEED Gold certification in the category of Existing buildings: operations and maintenance in regard to energy efficiency, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, carbon dioxide emissions, improvement of indoor air quality and the overall use of resources more efficiently.
AFI Ploiesti is the first and only modern shopping mall developed in the city centre of Ploiesti. It was inaugurated in 2013 following an investment of over EUR 50 million. The mall offers a gross built-up area of 56,000 sqm, of which the total gross leasable area (GLA) of 34,000 sqm, spreads over two floors.
Visitors can choose from more than 100 national and international brands for shopping, but also have an entertainment and leisure area of over 7,000 sqm and 1,000 parking spaces. With almost a 100 percent occupancy rate, the shopping centre is visited on average by 15,000 people a day.
“This new recognition for our portfolio is a great honour for us, especially since it comes shortly after AFI Tech Park’s LEED Platinum pre-certification in the area of sustainable buildings,” said David Hay, CEO AFI Europe Romania. “We are committed to becoming sustainable not only through our office buildings or dwellings, but also through our shopping centres.
“This is why we are happy AFI Ploiesti now joins the AFI community of ‘green’ buildings and becomes, thus, our first project outside Bucharest to achieve the LEED Gold certification, at the same time an extraordinary benefit for our tenants, as it means a reduction by about 40 percent of the utilities costs, compared to a conventional building.”
The certification process for AFI Ploiesti was carried out in partnership with Colliers International, which advised AFI Europe Romania.
“AFI Europe confirms its commitment to sustainable development by aligning AFI Ploiesti shopping centre to the LEED international standards,” said Oana Stamatin, LEED AP BD+C Real Estate Management Services of Colliers International Romania. “Obtaining the LEED certification for an existing building is a vote of trust given to green buildings and to the advantages they offer medium and long term, both to tenants and owners.
“For more than one year AFI Europe has implemented a series of technical measures, education and CSR campaigns, with visible long-term benefits: increased efficiency of the management systems, higher quality of the indoor environmental conditions and significant cost savings.”