The Warsaw Green Building Standard was intended to help build more environmentally friendly, responsible architecture in Warsaw. All new public investments were to comply with it. Unfortunately, work has just been halted.
Photo: MBialy / Wikimedia Commons
Work on the guidelines by the Office of Air Protection and Climate Policy of the Warsaw City Hall began in late 2021. The city announced the development of a set of guidelines and recommendations for new and retrofitted city facilities, leading to the achievement of the capital's climate goals in the construction sector. Proposals had already been discussed with municipal entities, and were being sent for public consultation. The document was to specify environmental requirements in the areas of energy efficiency, heating and cooling supply, water and waste management, and introduction of blue-green infrastructure elements. We wrote more about the assumptions of the Standard in a September article.
climate neutrality at risk
Achieving the capital's climate neutrality announced by City Hall for 2050, however, is in jeopardy. On July 1, 2022, the Warsaw Left revealed, all work on developing the document was halted. Politicians at the same time called on Rafał Trzaskowski to order a resumption of work on the standard and sign an ordinance implementing it by the end of the year. The authority explains its decision to abandon the project by the need to implement more important tasks. The question is - what tasks are more important than adapting the city to the challenges of the climate crisis?
Lack of resources and staff
As Justyna Glusman, former Director of Sustainability and Greenery Coordinator at Warsaw City Hall, points out, the problem with the project may be due to a lack of budgetary and staff resources. According to the information she provided, at least 10 employees (about 1/3 of the team) have left the Air Protection Bureau over the past six months. This is also a huge problem in the context of delays in the replacement of the so-called "fossil fuel" in the capital.
responsibilities and prohibitions
Sluzewski Dom Kultury (proj. WWAA + 137kilo)
photo: Radek Kolakowski / Wikimedia Commons
The document sent out for public consultation included, among other things, an obligation to install photovoltaic panels on the roofs of buildings, create parking spaces for bicycles, and locker rooms and showers for cyclists in the case of public buildings. Flower meadows and retention basins for rainwater collection were to be mandatory around buildings. The document assumed, also, a ban on burning solid fuels in heating systems.
