Romania Green Building Council (RoGBC)

Launched in May 2008, the Romania Green Building Council (RoGBC) is a non-profit, non-political association of businesses and other organizations. It is the country’s leading NGO promoting systemic transformation and business success in the construction and real estate industries through greater environmental responsibility and green building performance. Their scope includes the design, construction, operation, and deconstruction/reuse/repurposing of all building typologies in Romania.

RoGBC was a key research partner in successful European Horizon 2020 and Intelligent Energy Europe projects such as Construction21.eu, BUILD UPON to improve the design and implementation of Member States’ National Renovation Strategies, URBAN WINS for innovative waste management strategies, and CoME EASY to promote city-wide sustainability through the Covenant of Mayors initiative. RoGBC contributes green finance and green building expertise to the European Commission & United Nation Environment Programme’s “Energy Efficiency – Financial Institutions Group” (EEFIG.eu) to support financial institutions in scaling up deployment of green finance. RoGBC is also a partner in the OERCO₂ project (materials CO₂ calculations) and URBANBIM and BIMSTONE (promoting “Building Information Modelling” tools).

Work on the Green Homes & Green Mortgage (GHGM) program began in 2006 prior to the foundation of organization via one of RoGBC’s founding members. The research, financial modelling, documentation and other tools were donated to RoGBC. The regional and global financial crisis of 2008 impaired the residential construction market significantly but by 2012 the first projects to be certified in the program began development with a “green mortgage” product launched via a partner bank shortly after.

The GHGM program in Romania includes over 30 residential projects totaling over 6.500 residential units. In 2019, RoGBC joined with 16 organizations – including Green Building Councils, national energy agencies, academic institutions and other green expert organizations to form the SMARTER Finance for Families consortium to develop and implement the GHGM in 11 new European countries.

RoGBC serves as the project coordinator for the SMARTER consortium. The objective of the project is to create a systemic solution that provides financial and environmental benefits to all stakeholders through the design, construction, and operation of greener homes.