GREEN BUILDING IN THE RUSSIAN CONTEXT: AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A LEED®-BASED GREEN BUILDING RATING SYSTEM IN THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION

Abstract

Given the tremendous impact of buildings on the ecosystem, the Russian Federation (RF) is under pressure to become more ecologically sound in its building construction and operation practices. Under the same pressure, several other countries that have been less explicit about their environmental commitment than the RF have established green building rating systems (GBRSs) like LEED® of the US Green Building Council. This diagnostic pilot study investigated why there is no such system in the RF, expecting that there are potent contextual impediments to it. The study was designed as a fluid interaction between archival ethnographic research and in-depth qualitative interviews. Its preliminary phase assessed the introduction and adaptation of LEED® in five non-US contexts. The primary investigation involved in-depth interviewing of representatives of five major stakeholder sectors in three bioregionally, socio-politically and economically different Russian cities: Moscow, St. Petersburg and Novosibirsk.

The results suggest that prevalence of one-sided and short-sighted decision-making, lack of information, the cost of “green,” inadequate regulatory system and all-prevailing fragmentation are the most acknowledged impediments to green building in the RF. Impediments are perceived differently by the various industry sectors and vary with geographic location of the stakeholders. The results were translated into several adjustments of LEED® that counteract the conflicting paradigms and impeding forces of the context and capitalize on contextual assets laden in the Russian history, vernacular tradition and mentality to make the resulting GBRS viable in the Russian context.

The study provides a comprehensive assessment of factors that influence the establishment of a GBRS in the RF, captures tacit knowledge and contributes to the understanding of a cross-cultural adaptation of market mechanisms. In addition, it may provide insight into transition economies as a whole, by exposing the springboards and impediments to sustainable building practices that they share.