Housing developer in Romania embeds energy savings…

A story and short movie about green living – from the point of view of the housing developer and an apartment owner.

Ospinas, a family-owned company who has been developing residential buildings for more than 100 years, is now constructing state-of-the-art, high-quality, energy-efficient homes in Romania.

The first building completely developed by Ospinas in Romania, which the heart of Bucharest, is designed with energy efficiency firmly in mind, featuring:

• Wienerberger Porotherm Thermo Brick 30 for external walls
• Wienerberger Porothorm Thermo Brick 11.5 for interior walls
• 10cm and 15cm thermal insulation system
• Scheco thermoinsulating glazing with LowE glass, U Value 0.6W/m²K
• LED lighting with motion sensors
• Buderus condensing gas boilers
• Vogel&Noot energy-efficient fast-reaction radiators
• Danfoss thermostatic radiator control valves
• Fujitsu multi-split air conditioner (Energy Efficiency Class A++)
• Honeywell room thermostats with internet and smartphone connectivity.

According to Francisco Javier Ospina Baraya, the founder in Romania of Ospinas SRL,

“Having a long tradition in developing promotions, allow us to deliver real estate projects, using high standard techniques, obtaining not only safety and comfort but also esthetical features and functionality. Moreover, we are aware that now a days, developers have a two-way responsibility both with our clients but also with the entire city and community. In Ospinas SRL we work hard and invest time and resources to make this possible. As our mission praise, we want to be leaders of the sector, by building long term relationships with our clients but also with the community. By developing quality we provide a Smart living”.

The high-quality, energy-efficient units proved to be the right choice for the Romanian market so Ospinas is already developing another complex in Bucharest, Pipera Gardens.

One of the first Ospinas apartments in Romania was bought by Gabi Ciudin, who lives there with her husband Denny and baby Mara.

According to Gabi Ciudin:

“When I first saw the building, I very much liked the tall windows but thought they would make the apartment difficult to heat. But not only is the thermal insulation energy-efficient but the lighting, cooling and heating systems are too.”

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The apartment, which achieved a ‘Class A’ Energy Performance Certificate, was bought using a green home mortgage from UniCredit Bank, a special financing product that it established under the EBRD Green Economy Financing Facility (GEFF).

Tractebel Engineering, the GEFF Facility Consultant, supported the investment with a written Assessment, confirming technical eligibility of the proposed mortgage to be financed using the facility.

The Green Economy Financing Facility in Romania is an initiative of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and is supported by TaiwanICDF and the Global Environmental Facility. GEFFs combine technical knowledge with finance to help clients of participating financial institutions like UniCredit Bank to invest in high-performing technologies.

So far, EBRD provided almost €4.2 billion of financing through 140 local financial institutions in 26 countries through GEFF. The resulting investments by 130,000 clients of these financial institutions have led to an annual CO₂ emissions reductions of more than 7 million tonnes.

For information about EBRD GEFF please visit:

www.ebrdgeff.com