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While getting a commercial property ‘green building certified’ is largely still voluntary, rather than government mandated, in most countries, there are many reasons why landlords and investors should get the sustainability credentials of their assets assessed.
Putting aside the fact that the only way we can reduce our environmental impact – which we urgently need to do – is to quantify what we’re contributing to begin with, and how, there are several reasons why certification is worthwhile.
Investors often see it as a benchmark, with an increasing number refusing to purchase an asset if it doesn’t have the appropriate credentials to satisfy their ESG-standards. Occupiers, meanwhile, are attaching growing importance to the staff productivity, health and happiness benefits associated with buildings that reach high standards, with some worker surveys showing that many would choose an employer with a ‘green certified’ building than one that without.
So it’s widely accepted that sustainability matters and certifications are useful in identifying the best buildings. However, once you’ve decided to get your property assessed, the challenge is getting your head around the many different measurements available and gauging which is appropriate.
Many countries have their individual certification systems – which may not be the best if you’re a global player looking to directly compare multiple building performances – but they have their advantages in some instances in that they may look in detail at the specific sustainability challenges of that local geography (water usage in regions prone to draught, for instance). Other rating tools are specific to the sub-sector of building (office, logistics), which again may be appropriate in some situations.
The three most well-known and internationally recognised certification systems which can be used for most types of building are Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), which awards four levels of certification: certified, silver, gold, and platinum; Building Research Establishment Global Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM), which works on a star rating system from one to six and a designation of acceptable, pass, good, very good, excellent or outstanding; and WELL, which, like LEED, awards silver, gold or platinum status, but focuses more the impact buildings and everything in them can have on humans’ health and wellbeing (see our full explanation of how each system operates, here).
Separately, for investors looking at the sustainability of an entire portfolio, the Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB) assesses and benchmarks the Environmental, Social and Governance performance of real estate assets. GRESB originated in, and is growing in popularity with, funds that want to have access to comparable and reliable data on the ESG performance of their investments. This is because some of the other assessments outlined above only examine environmental performance and not the social impact on the wider community of a building.
Each certification method offers advantages and certainly striving to achieve the highest rating as possible on whichever serves your purposes is a wise investment. Looking ahead though, as the need to address the climate crisis becomes even more pressing, it is ever more likely that achieving a high sustainability certification on all projects may become a regulatory requirement.
A unified global building rating system that could be flexible for the local environment, would go some way to achieving mass certification on a level that will really drive industry change for the better.