OREANDA-NEWS. October 31, 2012.   Dmitry Medvedev: Good afternoon, colleagues. Today we are holding a production conference at the production facility of the Sibur-Khimprom petrochemical company, where the majority of those of us present have just taken part in the launch ceremony for the opening of the new polymer production line. As I already said, it is very good that such facilities are being opened. But, today, we will discuss how to make more cost-effective use of new construction materials. Everyone here knows that there are problems in this area, so we need to discuss the introduction of new materials, as well as our achievements and failures of the past few years. It’s clear that some issues to do with regulation still have to be resolved. We must consider how to move more quickly towards other principles of regulation. So, let’s discuss specific ways of doing this.

It is clear that meeting the demands of the country’s construction industry can only be achieved by opening new facilities. In the past few years, these processes have either accelerated or slowed down in some cases. Statistics show that cement production increased by 11% in the first nine months of 2012 compared to the same period in 2011. Production of linoleum increased by 12% and tiles by 8%. This highlights the fact that there is strong market demand for these materials. I would like to remind you that about 400 facilities and production lines have opened in various regions over the past year. However, very few of these enterprises manufacture new generation construction materials. Today, we are in one such facility. Of course, foam polystyrene is used in different economic sectors. In housing construction, it is valued for its impressive energy-saving properties. I hope that its introduction will help solve some problems in the construction industry (or at least influence construction prices) and increase the overall efficiency of heating systems, because polypropylene insulation resolves a number of issues and reduces heat loss by an average of 40%.

Low energy efficiency is a major problem for both residential and industrial buildings. Quite often, we end up heating the air outside and paying for it out of our own pockets. I would like to remind you that Russia spends the equivalent of virtually 20 tonnes of oil per 1,000 square metres. In other countries with a similar climate, including Norway, Denmark, Finland and Sweden, that figure is roughly half of that. This is the level to which we should aspire. We don’t make enough use of modern insulation materials. Mineral wool is primarily used for this purpose, and other technologies are used much less often.

I’d like to remind you that in line with the state programme “Energy Saving and Enhancing Energy Efficiency” we must try to decrease heat energy consumption by 30% by 2016 and by 40% by 2020. To meet these objectives we’ll have to use modern construction materials that will improve energy consumption. This is also important for maintaining the necessary transport infrastructure. We will now open our discussion, but I think we must at least pay attention to two things.

First, we must have a distinct idea of what we should do, what road map we’ll create, the latter indicating the terms as well as how the creation and certification of new construction materials will be provided.

The second thing we should do is hold the contractor and the customer liable for project results and the quality over the entire life cycle of the facility. This we haven’t done yet.

Third: during the implementation of the programmes for energy efficiency in construction and housing and utilities, the regional authorities must use domestic materials as much as possible. The regional heads and company representatives here need to understand this. We are not just talking about traditional materials but also the latest materials.

And a fourth thing: we must understand how to motivate businesses to produce energy efficient construction materials as well as how motivate contractors to use these materials. This is not really happening yet either. Here we are talking about construction standards and regulations and generally encouraging contractors to use the latest technology in state-supported projects.

Let’s discuss the current situation. I would like to hear from the heads of state agencies and companies, those who are here.