Galerie Harfa shopping centre in Prague has been awarded a LEED Gold for Existing Buildings: Operation & Maintenance. The certificate is unique as it was performed for a shopping centre that has already been operating for 5 years, reflecting the true performance and parameters of the centre, unlike the certificates that tend to be give to projects before they are built. There are only 24 shopping centres throughout the world with a LEED certificate for existing buildings, only two shopping centres have received a better rating than Galerie Harfa.
“We made the decision to begin the activity leading to savings as part of the LEED certification two years ago. We were not aiming at a concrete certification level since our shopping centre had already been operating for a few years and thus we were aware of the difficulty of the implementation, which is incomparably greater than for buildings that are “on paper”. Plus shopping centres are at a disadvantage compared to office buildings in terms of energy savings due to the almost non-stop opening hours and the large number of visitors that come to shop in the centre every day or come for entertainment and leisure. The obligation to recertify every five years is a great plus for us as it will enable us to either maintain the savings we have reached or, in light of new technologies, to increase them even further,” stated Tamir Winterstein, the executive director and partner of the Lighthouse Group.
