The second stage of A4 Business Park, an A-class office complex which is being developed by Echo Investment on Francuska Street in Katowice, has obtained a BREEAM Final ‘Very Good’ certificate with a score of 67.9 pct.

“All three buildings in A4 Business Park already received BREEAM certificates at the design stage. In order to acquire the final certificate you need to meet the requirements declared earlier – execute the projects correctly, apply all ecological solutions, diligently fulfil environmental procedures in the course of construction and use suitable waste reduction strategies at the builidng site. The first stage has already obtained the final certificate and now we can enjoy the final assessment of the second stage. I am convinced that the final certification audit will be equally successful with regard to the third stage of the A4 Business Park office building,” says Katarzyna Murdoch, BREEAM engineer, BREEAM International assessor at Echo Investment. The portfolio of Echo Investment includes 26 BREEAM-certified buildings: three A4 Business Park buildings, six Malta Office Park buildings, Nobilis Business House, three O3 Business Campus buildings, two Symetris Business Park buildings in Łódź, Tryton Business House, West Gate, Aquarius Business House in Wrocław, Q22, two Park Rozwoju buildings in Warsaw, Oxygen in Szczecin (2 BREEAM In-Use certificates: Building Management and Asset Rating), as well as the Galeria Amber shopping centre in Kaliszu, CHR Galaxy in Szczecin, Galeria Olimpia in Bełchatów and Galeria Echo in Kielce. 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). A4 Business Park is being developed on Francuska Street in Katowice, near an exit from A4 motorway. The facility is surrounded by an excellent network of public transport – there are numerous bus stops and a railway station nearby. A4 Business Park consists of three buildings. The first building and a multi-storey car park offering 560 spaces were completed in Q1 2014. The 7-storey building offers an area of 9,000 sqm and it has been leased in its entirety by the IBM IT concern. The second stage of the project will involve the construction of a 10-storey building with an office area of app. 9,000 sqm. The design of of A4 Business Park was created in a well-known Kraków-based architectural studio DDJM. The construction of the project is on schedule. The third stage is to be completed in Q3 this year. www.a4businesspark.pl