The cases concern appeals by the Municipality of Alimos and residents of the area, which were heard last year in the 5th Department of the Supreme Court and are referred for a final judgment to the Plenary of the Court, denouncing as unconstitutional the basic provisions of the "New Building Regulation" (NOK), which provide incentives to build greener buildings.
In particular, the new Building Regulation (N 4067/2012 (A 79) which has been applied in the country since 2012 gives incentives (exceeding the maximum allowed construction and height) for the construction of buildings with a zero energy footprint (photovoltaics, heat pumps, thermal facades, geothermal energy, etc.) .p.) reduced coverage by up to 50%, of the previous one applicable according to General Building Regulation, longer distances between buildings, and land contribution in favor of the municipalities.
This was followed by court decisions that vindicated the applicant municipalities (Athens, Varis Voulas Vouliagmeni, Alimos, Kifissia Papagou Cholargou, Amarousiou Chalandriou) and recognized their right to suspend the issuance of building permits by the New Building Regulation, until the final judgment of the Plenary Session of the Council of State.
The Ministry of the Environment, which appears as a key factor in the NOK trial, represented by the Legal Council of the State, defends the NOK's incentives, while at the same time preparing a new documentation study which includes proposals for any improvement and completion of the relevant implementation framework of the NOK's building incentives since at the core of the decisions of the annulment court that raise allegations of unconstitutionality, is the finding of an absence of documentation and evaluation of their application.
As far as possible, the proposals will have references to measurable figures and comparisons mainly in terms of the resulting benefits for the environment, sustainable urban development, the architecture of the buildings and the better living of the inhabitants, to the extent that this is possible and can be quantified.
The preparation of the study is financed by resources of the Green Fund, through the environmental balance action program.
According to information from ecopress, a group of at least ten large construction companies, whose representation has been undertaken by the lawyer Andreas Papapetropoulos, experienced in urban planning matters, is intervening in favor of the prestige of the NOK and the constitutionality of the incentives in the construction and the heights of the buildings. he is at the same time the legal representative of the construction companies in the cases of building permits that are decided in the Plenary Session of the CoE.
