Galeria Echo in Kielce, one of the largest shopping and entertainment centres in Poland, which has been developed by Echo Investment, obtained BREEAM In-Use certificates with a ‘Very Good’ grade.

BREEAM In-Use is a multi-criteria system. A building is assessed in nine categories including: management, energy, transport, water, materials, waste, ecology and pollution. Replies to individual questions in a questionnaire are converted into percentages which determine the certification result. Galeria Echo obtained two kinds of BREEAM In-Use certificate – Asset (which refers to energy efficiency, materials, location and transport, among others) and Building Management (which evaluates building management, relations with tenants, consumption of utilities and waste management). The facility obtained the "Very Good" grade in both cases (with a score of 66 and 58 pct respectively). Echo Investment"s portfolio includes nine buildings which hold BREEAM certificates, they are: Q22, two Park Rozwoju buildings in Warsaw, Aquarius Business House in Wrocław, the first stage of A4 Business Park in Katowice, Oxygen in Szczecin (2 BREEAM In-Use certificates: Building Management and Asset Rating) as well as Galeria Amber in Kalisz, Galaxy in Szczecin and Galeria Olimpia in Bełchatów. BREEAM is an evaluation method for buildings with regard to their eco-friendliness and comfort of future users. The buildings score points. The points acquired are converted into percentages which in turn are multiplied by the weight attributed to a given category. The points ultimately provide a score in a six-step scale: <30% - Unclassified, 30% - 44% - Pass, 45% - 54% - Good, 55% 69% - Very Good, 70% - 84% - Excellent, >85% - Outstanding. The most popular types of certificates are BREEAM Interim (the design stage of a project), BREEAM Final (confirmation of a design) and BREEAM In-Use (an existing building). Galeria Echo is one of the largest shopping and entertainment facilities in Poland in terms of the number of shops. Its total area amounts to 159,000 sqm, 70,000 sqm of which is earmarked for lease. Apart from 300 shops and retail outlets its customers can also enjoy an extensive entertainment zone including a 12-track bowling alley and the biggest fitness centre in the region as well as a multi-screen Helios cinema. A huge fun room with an area of 300 sqm has been prepared for the young ones. Its multi-storey car park for 2,300 cars is the showpiece of the facility. There has been a system of directing cars to empty spaces used in the car park as well as a special function of reminding a customer about the location of their parked car. The design of Galeria Echo"s extension was created in the Detan architectural studio of Kielce whereas the design of the facade and the interior was executed by Warsaw"s architectural studio Open Architekci. Detan sp. z o.o. / OPEN Architekci / Echo Investment"s team of architects. www.galeriaecho.pl