The Serbian market is capable of recognising quality, and were it not so Sauter wouldn’t have survived this long on the market
Switzerland’s SAUTER Group, as one of the leading companies in the field of building automation and green building system integration, provides energy efficiency and control, while automation has the highest importance in green building, says Mladen Vukanac, General Manager of Sauter Building Control Serbia.
The construction industry in Serbia, particularly in larger cities, is bustling with activity. How do you perceive the standards and procedures employed in Serbia in comparison to other European markets?
It is a fact that the construction industry is going through substantial development, and this is indeed something to celebrate.
You see, economies descending into crisis always see their building industries suffer, while healthy investments in the building industry are a true sign of prosperity.
With regard to procedures and standards, we – as a country – should certainly follow in the footsteps of developed countries, and especially EU member states. Defining standards is a crucial and functional necessity of every market economy, yet the actual application of these standards and procedures in practise is difficult to achieve. This is a process requiring constant monitoring. An inch of shortcuts in this respect can hinder progress, as quality can only surface as a standard in an adequately regulated market, and this is something we should all insist upon.
How often are building automation and green building system integration used in Serbia and what are the benefits?
Sauter is a Swiss company with a hundred years of tradition in building automation. We always like to point out our devotion to the Serbian market. In the former Republic of Yugoslavia, Sauter realised some capital projects like the automation of the “VMA” Military Medical Academy, the Sava Centre and Hotel Jugoslavija.
During the ‘90s, Sauter remained committed to the market and was one of the few foreign companies that had a representative office in Belgrade at that time. Amongst the turmoil of heavy sanctions, we realised projects like the automation of the Vuk’s Monument underground rail station and the NIS office building in Novi Sad. We never left the market and were always the first to bring technical innovations in our field.
We never left the Serbian market and were always the first to bring technical innovation in our domain
Today it is almost impossible to imagine a new building in Serbia without automation, and the green building philosophy is deeply interwoven with our principles and decade-long mission.
There are many benefits of green building. Our primary mission is to increase energy efficiency and control the air quality in these buildings. Automation is of the greatest importance in green building; it is essential, if you will, and brings immense benefits during the process of certifying a building that aspires to be classified as a green building.
To what extent do the differing economic potentials of the markets you cover impact on the possibilities of applying your exceptionally high standards?
High standards go hand-in-hand with quality. Sauter is a company that would never compromise on its quality, regardless of the cost. Our research and development centre in Basel is in the final stages of perfecting our new “Internet of things” solutions that will be available on our market as early as next year.
The Serbian market is capable of recognising quality and were that not so Sauter would not have survived for this long on the market. What I can tell you is that the level of technologies and solutions we employ in projects in Serbia is the same as in any developed EU country.
All our clients prefer to plan things longterm, to think several steps ahead; and with this frame of mind, Sauter is the only logical choice.