A pan-European survey has been carried out to explore the take-up of four sustainable building certification organisations - DGNB, BREEAM, LEED and HQE.
RICS Germany Sustainability Professional Group carried out the statistical review and explored both currently certified commercial buildings and buildings registered for certification.
The aim of the research and of its subsequent publication was to provide market participants with an objective overview of the growing market for sustainability certificates.
Given the fast-paced nature of this market segment, the group plans to carry out regular updates which will help to monitor future market developments.
The survey showed that:
• Sustainability certificates as measurable indicators of performance are firmly rooted in the real estate market and, as such, enjoy a growing market acceptance
• There are regional preferences for individual systems that may have the potential to develop into standards before long
• There is a strong preference for local certification systems in countries with national systems
• Decisions for specific systems are often determined by investors looking for cross-border comparability of their real estate assets
The report states:
Investors are increasingly recognising the importance of the environmental performance of their real estate portfolios both in terms of long-term financial performance, image and reputation and there has been a lot of talk about the usefulness of sustainability certificates in mainstreaming the uptake of so-called ‘green’ buildings across Europe.
Markets have witnessed a dynamic proliferation and spread of new certification systems as well as further development and expansion of existing ones.
Against this background, members of RICS Professional Group Sustainability recently carried out a statistical pan-European survey between four different certificate issuing organisations: DGNB, BREEAM, LEED and HQE regarding both currently certified commercial buildings as well as buildings registered for certification.
The aim of the survey and subsequent publication launched in Germany in May 2011 was to provide market participants with an objective overview of the state-of-play in the growing market for sustainability certificates.
Given the fast-paced nature of this market segment, the group plans to carry out regular updates which will help to monitor future market developments.
So how much impact have sustainability certification systems had on markets and where? There are of course sustainable buildings that are not certified, but the survey showed that sustainability certificates as measurable indicators of performance are firmly rooted in the real estate market and, as such, enjoy a growing market acceptance.
Even if it is likely that not all buildings registered for certification will conclude the often long-winded process of certification, the figure of more than 2.000 registrations across Europe gives a good idea of the volume of projects currently in the pipelines of developers and certifiers.
The survey illustrated that the development of sustainability certification in Europe is certainly buoyant with regional preferences for individual systems that may have the potential to
develop into standards before long.
In terms of geographical spread and preferences, it is only logical that countries with a national certification system should prefer their local ones. Decisions are often determined by investors looking for cross-border comparability of their real estate assets. An US investor is more likely to opt for LEED certification of projects in Spain or Poland whilst his/her British counterpart is more likely to choose BREEAM in the same location.
Even when investing abroad, it seems often to be a case of feeling more at home with the certification system of the country of origin than with others. However, there are also those who choose double certification conscious of the fact that the building may need a good local market image in addition to an international one.
Although the figures for 2009/2010 may be impressive, the report reminds that in comparison with the total building stock we are still talking about a small percentage of new construction projects. But this could soon change in view of new options to have also existing buildings included in certification, (i.e. those not subject to new construction works).
With all these different systems commercially vying for market dominance, it remains to be seen whether we are we going to witness the emergence of one international system dominating the market in the near future.
Whatever the future will bring, whether this be a harmonised European building label or the prevalence of one existing system over others, from an investor’s and property professional’s point of view it will be crucial to create greater comparability, transparency, coordination and consistency.
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