Conference marks the end of EU Build
Güncelleme Tarihi:
by Reeta Paakkinen
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Haziran 09, 2009 00:00
ISTANBUL - The Association of Turkish Building Material Producers, or İMSAD, launches a two-day conference today on international standards and construction materials in Istanbul’s Kadir Has University.
The conference marks the end of the "EU Build" project, a European Union-funded project aiming to support Turkey, Bulgaria and Romania in harmonizing their construction materials with EU regulations. The project started in December 2007. Selda Başbuğoğlu, secretary-general of İMSAD, said Turkish construction materials exports will likely reach 8 percent of all exports after the current global crisis calms down.
"The construction materials sector is one of the locomotives of Turkish industry, which currently makes 6.5 percent of all exports and has a volume of $23 billion. In the future more crucial as young population and urbanization will increase the need for new residential units," she told Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review on Friday. "We expect building material exports to the Balkans and Northern Africa, in particular, to grow in volume in the future."
Quality standards
The main focus of the first day of the conference will focus on quality standards in the future, innovation and branding. The second day will focus on unjust competition, certification of building materials and energy efficiency in buildings. "Turkey is in a slightly different position than many northern EU member states in terms of building standards, because it is in a seismic area and therefore construction firms always have to take earthquake risk into account," Başbuğoğlu said.
The CE certification system used in the EU is also widely used in Turkey, she noted. "However, there are still some small and medium-sized firms that have issues with certification. We are determined to increase our communication and cooperation with them," she noted.
According to Başbuğoğlu, Turkey needs a clear goal in developing energy efficiency in its building stock. "Like the EU, which has set a deadline of December 2019 for all buildings to have an energy certificate, Turkey should also introduce a target date by which all buildings should have an energy rating. Active work on energy efficiency of buildings in EU members is very different from ours, although the average Turkish consumer is paying a lot for his or her energy needs," Başbuğoğlu said.
"Turkey will need to set a target for this in order to start financing energy efficient buildings," she said. "The target could even be quite low, but there needs to be one so that the industry can come to terms with the future direction of development."
Başbuğoğlu also noted that despite the current turbulence, the Turkish construction materials sector is likely to emerge from the crisis strongly. "Any slowdown will naturally have a spill-over effect on other sectors," she said. "On the other hand, Turkey’s young, growing population guarantees that the sector will continue to be a key one."
"The construction materials sector is one of the locomotives of Turkish industry, which currently makes 6.5 percent of all exports and has a volume of $23 billion. In the future more crucial as young population and urbanization will increase the need for new residential units," she told Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review on Friday. "We expect building material exports to the Balkans and Northern Africa, in particular, to grow in volume in the future."
Quality standards
The main focus of the first day of the conference will focus on quality standards in the future, innovation and branding. The second day will focus on unjust competition, certification of building materials and energy efficiency in buildings. "Turkey is in a slightly different position than many northern EU member states in terms of building standards, because it is in a seismic area and therefore construction firms always have to take earthquake risk into account," Başbuğoğlu said.
The CE certification system used in the EU is also widely used in Turkey, she noted. "However, there are still some small and medium-sized firms that have issues with certification. We are determined to increase our communication and cooperation with them," she noted.
According to Başbuğoğlu, Turkey needs a clear goal in developing energy efficiency in its building stock. "Like the EU, which has set a deadline of December 2019 for all buildings to have an energy certificate, Turkey should also introduce a target date by which all buildings should have an energy rating. Active work on energy efficiency of buildings in EU members is very different from ours, although the average Turkish consumer is paying a lot for his or her energy needs," Başbuğoğlu said.
"Turkey will need to set a target for this in order to start financing energy efficient buildings," she said. "The target could even be quite low, but there needs to be one so that the industry can come to terms with the future direction of development."
Başbuğoğlu also noted that despite the current turbulence, the Turkish construction materials sector is likely to emerge from the crisis strongly. "Any slowdown will naturally have a spill-over effect on other sectors," she said. "On the other hand, Turkey’s young, growing population guarantees that the sector will continue to be a key one."