Some time ago a Conference took place in Moscow named
“Green Architecture in Russia: myth or reality”, an...d it speaks volumes about green building awareness. The interesting fact is that the conference was full of people who actually make this a reality in Russia. In Russia they started to talk about green architecture no more than 10 years ago. By now it is required that all new buildings be constructed in compliance with environmental protection codes and regulations. At the overall state level there is currently a huge consumption of energy, obsolete building codes and an absence of renewable technology. In practice these regulations fail to go beyond the talking stage. The only step forward is the work of a select population who advocate positive change. For the most part, there are merely ideas and projects on paper, but a new ecological reality cannot be built without turning those ideas into a reality. Several Universities in Moscow and the Far East host seminars about green architecture. When you see the Russian stand at International Fairs such as The World Sustainable Building conference in Japan or The World Environmental Educational Congress in Italy, the Russian exhibits have been produced without any support from neighboring countries. Russia’s enthusiasm for green architecture is widespread; one can see Russian exhibits as far away as in Mexico where Russian students display their projects. Although green building is an official public policy in Russia, the fact is that one will neither find green buildings there nor will they find any information about green buildings.

It is possible to imagine the birth and development of a completely new system. A year ago The Green Building Council of Russia started its work that aimed to stimulate the creation of a whole new industry. The strategic goals are to increase awareness, to create national standards, and to provide the market with effective models. New informative articles appear in the on-line magazine “Ecology and Architecture” ec-a.ru and in the data portal EcoRussia.info. There are courses at the universities and in architecture groups that study world sustainable architecture. Last year there were several forums, conferences, discussions, and public lectures on the subject of green architecture. In February of this year Moscow hosted EcoCup which is an Ecological Film Festival. During the Festival there was a special day fully dedicated to ecological architecture. The film of the day was the first Russian screening of “Last Call for Planet Earth” by Jacques Allard. Jacques Allard himself “fell to Moscow from the sky” as the Russian proverb goes. The festival provided Moscow architects with the exceptional opportunity to see the film and meet the director. Students also came from other cities such as Saint-Petersburg, Voronej and Nizhny Novgorod to view the film. The enthusiasm that has been shown regarding the film has been the catalyst behind the decision to show the film “Last Call for Planet Earth” in 10 towns in Russia and at the International Architecture Day in Nizhny Novgorod. Claiming that green architecture is an impossibility because of a lack of information is no longer a viable reason for continuing to forego the ideas of building with green architecture. Although sustainable architecture as a system is in the beginning stages in Russia, it will soon become more than ideas on paper; it will become a reality.

©ArchiWorld 2010, Interview by Anastasia Laukkanen, Moscow