Elemental Business Centre becomes the first in Latvia to achieve BREEAM Outstanding certification

Elemental Business Centre, an office rental complex in Skanste, has been awarded BREEAM Outstanding, the highest level in the BREEAM rating scale. Elemental Business Centre is currently the only project in Latvia with such a high rating. 

The Elemental Business Centre has so far obtained the BREEAM Excellent level Interim certification, which only a few new projects in Latvia can boast. Imants Krēsliņš, Sales Manager of the Elemental Business Centre, points out that all possible measures were taken from the very beginning of the project in order to achieve the highest Outstanding level.

“At the very beginning of the project, we made it clear that we wanted to be the first in Latvia to achieve BREEAM Outstanding. We worked hard towards this goal, implementing energy-efficient and sustainable solutions at every stage of the project—from waste sorting to innovative solutions for heating and thermal energy. For example, Elemental Green and Elemental Blue are the first office buildings in Latvia to use energy piles for heating and cooling, significantly reducing heating costs. Nowadays, BREEAM is the standard for every new project, but so far, none has achieved the highest possible rating, which is not easy. We are therefore pleased to be the first in Latvia to have achieved this rating, as this is how we raise the bar in the industry,” says I. Krēsliņš.

 

BREEAM certification ensures that buildings meet high standards of energy efficiency and sustainability, providing solutions that are friendly to the environment, building users, and residents. The highest rating of “Outstanding” indicates that the project has met at least 85% of BREEAM standards. Until now, the highest BREEAM rating in Latvia has been “Excellent”, which corresponds to a score of more than 70% but not more than 85% on the BREEAM scale of standards.

 

“We are very happy and proud of this outstanding achievement. This award is a great demonstration of the commitment, highest level of competence, and professionalism of the entire team that worked on this project. BREEAM Outstanding is only awarded to buildings with modern architectural solutions, state-of-the-art technology and engineering systems, and all the necessary social services in or around the building. This is a great credit to the design team, from the architects to the engineers. However, equally important is the professional and extremely rigorous project management during construction. I can confirm that the construction process was well managed and organized by Merks, which took on the challenges of the BREEAM standard responsibly and integrated the requirements perfectly into the construction process. I am also proud of the VESTA Consulting team who listened to the needs of the developer and supported them throughout the BREEAM assessment and certification process. The biggest congratulations go to the project owner, Kapitel, which by its example demonstrates responsible business practices, market leadership, and sets new quality standards in the Latvian real estate industry,” says Evalds Savickis, CEO of Vesta Consulting.

 E. Savickis also adds that Elemental buildings achieved all possible BREEAM water[1] category credits. For example, a rainwater harvesting system with adequate storage was installed to water all the greenery in the office complex and, at the same time, save water consumption.

 

Outstanding is the highest rating on the BREEAM rating scale, which has five levels: Pass, Good, Very Good, Excellent, and Outstanding.

Elemental Business Centre is an office rental complex consisting of two interconnected office buildings: Elemental Green and Elemental Blue. The buildings are currently occupied by tenants such as GelvoraSergel and Aizdevums.lv, owned by the Swedish financial holding company Marginalen AB, the international IT services company Arvato Systems, CV Market, Primend, Kapitel, Dyninno Group, Fiziocentrs, Spaces, NordAgri, Hortimed, and Rimi.

Currently, 2000 m² of office space is still available for lease in the office centre, while almost 90% is already leased. Space is available for companies of any size, starting from 100 m².

About Elemental Business Centre:

In October of this year, the State Construction Control Bureau of Latvia commissioned Elemental Business Centre, the total investment of which exceeds 60 million euros. The construction works of the project were carried out by SIA Merks, and its developer is SIA Kapitel. Elemental Business Centre consists of two buildings with a total leasable area of 21,000 m2.

In June 2024, the project received a BREEAM Outstanding rating, thus becoming the first building in Latvia with the highest possible rating. Elemental Business Centre buildings are also the first in Latvia, which are connected by a parametric facade. In the construction of buildings, energy piles were used, which are able to provide up to 72% of the building’s heating and cooling needs, significantly reducing the costs of utilities for tenants.

 

[1] The water category encourages sustainable water use in the operation of the building and its site. Issues in this section focus on identifying means of reducing potable water consumption (internal and external) over the lifetime of the building and minimizing losses through leakage.