Ecoresort DancingGreen

The DancingGreen project will be developed in Tulskaya oblast, 100 km from Moscow, the construction starts in spring 2010. It is an ecopark, with 730 villas, 250 room hotel, water park, 1 800 sqm spa facilities and vast sport center. The project would include such sustainable features as a nature center, where kids and their parents can learn about sustainability, and an artificial lake, designed to provide the park with optimized water supply.

The project team brought together the best world practices – Foster and Partners, PACE, Bovis Land Lease, ITEC, Locum Consulting, Coverpoint, Huettinger, Kay Elliott, SCG London, White Water.

Sustainability is essential part of DancingGreen brand. We discussed sustainable aspects of project and their cost with Andrey Osipov, CEO of Country Format. 

A brief overview of project’s “green” approach. Details of the design process, technology applied in the project & project due-diligence.

Sustainability is an essential part of DancingGreen brand. The brand concept started from the idea to provide guests with a space which contrasts with the urban environment. The idea shaped the sustainability strategy of the project.

The DancingGreen sustainability strategy includes several aspects. First, a set of site selection criteria was created. To select the site, a proper plot survey was done. Site resistance to recreational load, accessibility, functional and aesthetic analysis was completed prior to the next steps.

Second, Environmental Due Diligence was performed. Analysis included environmental testing of air quality, soil, water and radiation. The result of Due Diligence concluded that the site is in a clean condition and fits the project concept. The project concept implied availability of pine or mixed forest, as well as alake or the opportunity to build the man-made waterways. A phytopathology (forest) survey confirmed the quality of the woodland. The forest section of Dancing Green contains guest villas with roads and buildings to be located in the poorer areas of the forest. These “damaged” areas were identified by detailed tree surveys and are included in the overall Forest Development Plan. The Plan is prepared in compliance with Russian Forestry codes. A detailed water survey was conducted by PACE using HEC-RAS modeling methods. This measures the potential flood risks and offered the best solutions to avoid these risks. Other development risks were properly analyzed at the Due Diligence stage.

An integrated land planning approach resulted in a minimal construction plot area of 7% out of the total site area. Such a result was delivered by the concentration of activity centers in just a few spots, preserving the existing natural systems, and concentrating guest villas in few villa clusters.

Infrastructure includes various solutions depending on the location and approach. Passive house solutions are considered one of the priority options. Alternative energy sources are proposed by tapping geothermal and solar energy sources for water and special heating. The sustainability strategy implies that most energy resources (water, heat, air) would be re-used in DancingGreen project.

Water resource management is centred around a large manmade lake as the core of the project. The lake works both as the main recreational feature, as well as combining various additional functions such as flood protection, rain water collection, domestic wastewater treatment, and works as a tool for creating a vivid landscaping. Design solutions are based on the evaluated water balance that allows optimization of construction and maintenance costs by using watershed storm-water and reclaimed water as a lake make up source and minimizing groundwater usage.

The water quality system allow for maintaining constant water quality and are based on natural self-treatment cycle including aeration, bio filters, and circulation.

Please evaluate the impact of sustainable approach on project’s marketing and sales.

Sustainability lies at the heart of the project’s marketing and sales strategy. Marketing a prestine product which will be delivered to consumers is in line with our “green mission” : DancingGreen is set to inspire visitors to take a responsible attitude to nature. This aim would be achieved through an integrated approach to the park’s design and architecture, special atmosphere, leisure and entertainment opportunities, enrichment classes, etc.

DancingGreen is a unique project for the Russian holiday market with an unprecedented capacity of 350 000 guests annually. To understand whether such a new concept is applicable in Russia, the Dancing Green team spent a lot of time conducting marketing research and analyzing the market potential for the project. Basically, every stage of the project and each important decision is based on solid data gained from such market surveys.

Great efforts were made to check whether “green” ideas could work for real estate project. Most research revealed that Russian customers have a positive attitude towards the concept of sustainability.

This corresponds with international trends when customers “vote with their feet” for eco-friendly solutions, while going to “green” hotels or buying food in “green” supermarkets. We realize that being a part of the global economy, Russia will follow the same life-cycle and in few years the “green” trend will come to our country. DancingGreen is planned today to have its own niche in tomorrow’s market.

Green budget: costs of sustainable versus traditional approach. What is the most expensive part of this “green” project?

Well, implementation of our ideas requires large investment at each project stage starting from purchasing plots with a “green” potential, through extensive number of additional site surveys which are usually not conducted while using a conventional approach. Additional costs include bringing partners which could unite the world’s leading technologies and experience with existing Russian design codes and climate conditions. Eco-friendly construction processes with minimal effect on the environment also can bу a big expense for the sustainable projects.

We focused on energy efficiency, bringing various solutions and using internal resources in our project. While the cost of sustainable engineering solutions is usually 10-15% higher than the cost of traditional ones, the analysis done by cost consulting team of Dancing Green (Locum, DL, Bovis) proves economic efficiency. As for our project, increase of the investment budget by 4-5% in order to fit the “green” concept will have not just a positive environmental effects but also strong economic results.

Partnerships with foreign and Russian design consultants. What were the selection criteria for the design team?

Country Format has a special tender procedure which is based on a complex overview of team members qualifications, including their ability to be a team player in our international team, their track record of sustainable projects and other. Usually it takes a few months to complete the tender process which consists of several stages.

The majority of team members working on DancingGreen are international well-known companies. Each of them is a leader in its area of expertise. The team includes such firms as ITEC (USA), Locum Consulting (Great Britain), Coverpoint (Great Britain), Huettinger (Germany), Kay Elliott (Great Britain), Ohlson Lavoie Collaborative (USA), Partners in Retail (Great Britain), Schletterer (Austria), SCG (Great Britain), WhiteWater (Canada) and others.

Master planning and general architecture were carried out by Foster+Partners, a well-known international practice. While working on form, architects brought to the project functional and emotional components, as well as effective solutions. We believe that partnering with such companies as BDSP Partnership, Systematica, and others Foster+Partners is the best way to create this new “DancingGreen environment”.

PACE, an American firm, joined the team at the early stage and was involved in hydrological studies of the Due Diligence project. PACE is responsible for the design of the man-made lake at DancingGreen. Their approach is based on the most eco-friendly and natural water management approach while using knowledge of natural water processes.

While looking for the landscape designer, Country Format shortlisted several firms, however, Latz+Partners was chosen due to their design experience and completed projects, as well as projects carried out in partnership with Foster+Partners. The firm is keen to work in partnership with nature. Professionals from Latz+Partners and possess a deep knowledge of dynamics and structure of ecosystems being able to create unique man-made environments while preserving and enhancing existing landscapes.

Kay Elliott Architects and Huettinger worked together on the design of of the Nature Center, one of the most important destinations in DancingGreen resort. Both consultants had the brief to integrate the concept of an innovative center with other parts of the park and to transform the entire resort into a place evoking “inner child emotions” in DancingGreen guests, opening them to new discoveries and making them eager to explore the surrounding world.

Now we are negotiating with the Russian partners who will adapt design project to Russian design codes. Construction management function is outsourced to Bovis Lend Lease, a company with high corporate standards, various experience of working in Russia, as well as a broad portfolio of sustainable projects.

How long has the project been in development stage? What are the project’s prospects?

We have a different project development approach. Compare to conventional development project process, when they build then look for customers, we started out with marketing. The marketing idea was tested on its feasibility and commercial potential. Based on the marketing concept, the site for the resort was chosen and the master plan was designed according to its guidelines. We started with the development of the marketing product in the beginning of 2007.

Today, we already accomplished the master plan, the design of the several park buildings and systems and the adaptation of the project to the Russian regulations are in the process. We forecast that the project will be ready to start construction by spring 2010.

The first guest of DancingGreen is expected to enter the park in 2013.

Do you plan international investors participation in the project? If so, to what extent is your ecological approach a matter of consideration by investors?

To date, we are in the process of negotiations with potential investors, both Russian and International. When looking at our project,, investors consider DancingGreen’s ecological concept as the main competitive advantage.

The following benefits are pointed out by investors:

• “Green thinking” trends emerging in society will definitely have a positive impact on the project’s marketing potential and will lead to a strong operational profile.
• The Ecological concept leads to a number of innovations in the project, such as the first Russian Nature Center with advanced interactive technology, cutting-edge sustainable hydrotechnical systems, “green” engineering solutions, etc.
• The fact that the real estate project has a thought-through concept and a strong project management in place is quite unique for the industry and is considered as one more “plus” for the DancingGreen development.