GTC, one of the leading real estate developers in Central and Eastern Europe, has received LEED Gold certification for the Cascade Office Building, located near Victoriei Square, in Bucharest’s Central Business District (CBD). Currently, all five of the company’s office projects in Romania are with Gold certificates, obtained under different certification schemes between 2019 and 2021. As of 2021, GTC will use renewable energy sources in all its Romanian buildings, thus committing to provide clean energy for its facilities across Europe.

Cascade Office Building is one of Bucharest’s iconic office projects, located in a key part of the city at Strada Buzești 62-64, a 7-minute walk from Victoriei Square and a 20-minute drive from Henri Coandă International Airport. The 4, 210 sqm building was completed in 2005 and includes modern energy-saving features such as intelligent lighting, air-conditioning or local temperature control systems, access control and CCTV monitoring. The 7-months LEED Gold certification process for Cascade Office Building was awarded after evaluation according to seven criteria, such as sustainable design, energy efficiency and air conditioning, useful materials and resources, indoor environmental quality, innovation, location and transportation, which confirms excellent operation and maintenance conditions (LEED O+M).

GTC Romania office properties include: City Gate (North and South Towers), Cascade Office Building, Premium Plaza and Premium Point. All have been Gold certified or re-certified in the last three years as follows: City Gate South Tower advanced from LEED Silver to Gold certification; City Gate North Tower achieved LEED Gold recertification; and the Premium Point and Premium Plaza buildings went through DGNB Gold recertification. “The LEED Gold certification of the Cascade Office Building is an important achievement of our sustainable development strategy, reiterated in the ESG 2020 report. GTC’s commitment for the future is to build or acquire only highly energy-efficient green buildings that are environmentally friendly and provide employees with the best working conditions. The current situation we are facing in the midst of global pandemic is complicated, but I believe we can overcome all the challenges by adapting a new way of working and upgrading our buildings by every possible means. Thanks to the work of our team, every square meter of our properties in Romania is Gold certified, which is a tremendous achievement” – commented Ziv Gigi, Managing Director GTC Romania.

Zoltan Fekete