The key speaker of the event was the German architect Jorn Frenzel (EyLand bureau), who presented the Vatnavinir project, which is being implemented in Iceland today, to the Russian audience. In his opening remarks, preceding Frenzel's speech, Vladimir Frolov, editor-in-chief of Project Baltia magazine, noted that sustainable development technologies are becoming an essential component of both modern architecture and development. This "epigraph" very accurately reflected the essence of the speech of the invited guest, who spoke about meaningfully new approaches to development and how in Iceland it was innovative technologies that became the basis for sustainable development of the whole country.
The history of reorientation of this state to "green" technologies began several years ago, when it became obvious that the industrial economy was not able to ensure its long-term development. Prior to that, the stake, in particular, was made on the production of aluminum, and in order to provide this industry with electricity, dams were built. It was assumed that by 2020 a whole network of such industries will be created in the country and Iceland will successfully implement the idea of an economic paradise on a single island, but as a result of the 2008 crisis, most enterprises went bankrupt, and the construction of dams managed to inflict colossal environmental damage: gigantic territories were simply flooded … The Vatnavinir project aims to set new priorities and remedy the troubled situation.
In a nutshell, its authors proposed turning Iceland into a wellness country. The fact is that taking a bath with thermal water is one of the traditional Icelandic entertainment. There are many small baths, spa centers and health clinics in the country - within the framework of "Vatnavinir" they will be united into a developed network, the financing of which will be jointly funded by both the state and private business.
After listening to the report of Jorn Frenzel, the participants of the discussion unanimously expressed in the spirit that all this, of course, is wonderful, but Russia is still far from that. Therefore, the Russian part of the discussion was reduced to a discussion of local problems and those few "green" achievements that are still taking place. In particular, according to the speakers, in Russia only large customers are interested in energy efficient technologies, ready to invest “long-term” funds. That is why modern energy efficiency standards do not apply to housing construction - a buyer at today's prices for housing and communal services will only be able to return the money overpaid for efficiency only in 20 years. This issue was discussed at the round table with almost the greatest passion: the professional community expects that sooner or later a law will be adopted that will oblige builders to comply with "green" standards, and the end consumers of economy-class housing are reasonably worried about the fact that this is cardinal will change the market.
At the end of the discussion, a thought was sounded, partly consonant with the speech of Jorn Frenzel. It is hardly worth talking about the widespread introduction of energy efficient technologies until the conceptual issues regarding the future of St. Petersburg and the main vector of its development have not been resolved. What is the historic center? What will happen to the worn-out system of utilities and transport infrastructure? Until these issues are resolved, until a unified vision is developed, an effective developer capable of solving complex complex problems will not appear in the city. Against such a background, one can only talk and listen about sustainable development … Which was what was done.
