OREANDA-NEWS. February 05, 2014. The Olympic Park Station complex in Sochi has been awarded a BREEAM international environmental certification with an assessment of "very good".

BREEAM stands for Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Methodology and is the world's foremost environmental assessment method and rating system for buildings, with 250,000 buildings with certified BREEAM assessment ratings and over a million registered for assessment since it was first launched in 1990.

Certification in accordance with the "BREEAM Bespoke-2008" green standard system is confirmation that construction norms have been observed without exerting any change on the environment.

During the construction of the railway station, BREEAM's basic requirements were met: resource-saving technologies were introduced, including technologies that involve the use of renewable sources of clean energy, bicycle paths were allocated, the landscaped area was increased, the building was protected and insulated from overheating, UV, dust and noise; the level of oxygen was enriched and the microclimate improved.

The latest technology was used during the construction work on the railway station, including multifunctional energy-saving glass, automatically controlled natural ventilation, light fixtures with energy-saving lamps, solar modules to generate renewable energy from the sun and sensors to monitor the consumption of water by means of pulsed and infrared automatically controlled lighting systems.

Implementing eco-efficient innovation solutions has led to the direct and indirect reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and a reduction of water pollution and soil contamination.

In order to ensure a comfortable environment for users, the Directorate of Railway Stations - a branch of Russian Railways - has installed low-noise ventilation equipment, energy-efficient escalators, lifts and other innovative solutions.

During the station's construction, requirements for barrier-free environment for people with limited mobility were also complied with in full. To provide guidance to the visually impaired, grooves have been set into the floor and information stickers and plaques with Braille fixed to the handrails of stairs, ramps and lift cars.

In order to ensure a safe stay at the station complex for people with limited mobility, areas requiring particular attention have been marked in contrasting colours and a bright yellow strip at the edge of train platforms. The floors are also coated with a non-slip covering.

The station complex was commissioned on 1 November 2013. It is a major hub that connects railway, airport, urban and intercity bus transportation, and in the future it will also connect marine types of passenger transport. It is planned to build a pier from the seaward side close to the station.

During the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games, the station will be able to handle up to 85,500 passengers per hour. It will be able to accommodate about 1,300 people at the same time.