ProCredit Ukraine marks a milestone in its journey to net zero, showing that despite challenges, the future is green in Ukraine.

ProCredit Bank Ukraine, part of the international ProCredit group of development-oriented commercial banks, announced that it achieved EDGE Advanced green building certification for its head office in Kyiv. The certification highlights the groups commitment to sustainability and acts as a leading example of decarbonisation of existing buildings.

EDGE (“Excellence in Design for Greater Efficiencies”), an innovation of IFC, is a cloud-based platform that makes it easy to design and certify resource-efficient and zero carbon buildings around the world. To qualify for certification, a building must achieve at least a 20 percent reduction in energy, water, and embodied energy in materials compared to a conventional building.

The head office in Ukraine, designed in the 1980s, compromises of over 2,500 square meters and is based in the country’s capital, Kyiv. By adopting efficiency measures, ProCredit’s office achieved the EDGE Advanced certification and delivered 52% energy savings; 45% water savings and 86% less embodied energy in materials, equating to 84 tons of CO2 saved per year. The building was certified by Sintali and audited by SGS, leading international companies in the green building space.

“Navigating the certification process following the escalation of Russo-Ukrainian war brought its challenges,” said Roman Makarov, Head of Environmental Management Unit at ProCredit Bank. “Regular power cuts and missile attacks leading to lack of regular internet connectivity following the conflict added complexity to the process, and delayed elements of the certification. However, our team remained dedicated to our goals and we were able to succeed. Our decision to continue with the certification despite the conflict shows that we are committed to making a positive impact and work towards a greener future.”

ProCredit Group has an ambitious sustainability agenda. The group’s green loan portfolio has already surpassed EUR 1.2 billion, representing 20.2% of its total loan portfolio as of the end of December 2022. Internally, ProCredit Group has already achieved EDGE certification for its Head Offices in Kosovo, North Macedonia, Georgia, and Bulgaria, with its office in Bulgaria becoming the first building in Europe to achieve EDGE Zero Carbon.

“The project is a pioneering example of how our oldest buildings can be retrofitted to become more modern energy efficient structures,” said Tom Saunders, co-founder at Sintali. “The building was originally designed in the late 80s according to the Soviet Standards of the time which did not focus on energy efficiency. The ProCredit team successfully transformed the building into a modern, energy efficient workspace, showing that decarbonisation of our existing buildings is possible.”

ProCredit Ukraine will continue promoting green building and help spread awareness across the region as the country makes some efforts to rebuild following the conflict.

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About ProCredit Ukraine

ProCredit Bank Ukraine began operating in Ukraine in 2001 specialising in providing financing to micro, small and medium-sized Ukrainian enterprises. In 2004 ProCredit Bank opted to broaden its range of services for both entrepreneurs and private households. The bank’s sole owner is ProCredit Holding, based in Frankfurt am Main (Germany). ProCredit Holding is the parent company of the development-oriented ProCredit Group, which consists of commercial banks for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and whose main operational focus is on South Eastern and Eastern Europe. The primary remit of ProCredit Bank is to support the development of SMEs and to foster a favourable environment for the growth of the Ukrainian economy. For more information visit, https://en.procreditbank.com.ua/

About Sintali

Sintali is an independent company that quantifies and verifies the environmental impact of decisions, and helps organisations map out the road to net zero. With deep expertise in the development of green building standards and corporate sustainability, Sintali brings transparency and rigor to the sustainability realm. For more information, visit https://www.sintali.com

About SGS

As the world’s leading inspection, verification, testing and certification company, SGS is recognised as the global benchmark for quality and integrity. With more than 89,000 employees, SGS operates a network of more than 2,600 offices and laboratories around the world. SGS’s reputation for independence, excellence and innovation has established the company as the market leader in providing services that improve efficiency, reduce risk and deliver competitive advantages for customers. For more information, visit www.sgs.com

About EDGE

EDGE (“Excellence in Design for Greater Efficiencies”), an innovation of IFC, makes it easy to design and certify resource-efficient and Zero Carbon buildings around the world. IFC created EDGE to respond to the need for a measurable and credible solution to prove the business case for building green and to unlock financial investment. EDGE operates through a cloud-based platform that has a sophisticated set of city-based climate and cost data, consumption patterns, and algorithms for predicting the most accurate performance results. It is a measurable way for builders to optimize their designs to improve their building’s resource efficiency and to estimate the added cost of building green and the predicted utility savings. EDGE is available for new and existing buildings, including offices, homes, hotels, schools, light industry, warehouses, and data centers. To qualify for certification, a building must achieve at least a 20 percent reduction in energy, water, and embodied energy in materials compared to a conventional building. For more information, visit www.edgebuildings.com