Commercial real estate: environmental certification continues to grow in Europe
In 2019, 3 HQE, LEED, BREEAM and DGNB certifications were issued for office buildings, retail premises, health, education, activities, hotels, airports, etc., in new, under renovation and in operation. In total, from 721 to 2008, 2019 certifications were issued.
Office buildings are the most certified.
The office building segment has remained the most environmentally certified since 2008. A trend that is confirmed in 2019, with:
- 563 certifications issued in Europe for new or refurbished office buildings;
- 651 certifications issued for office buildings in operation.
Specific dynamics of certification in major strategic business centers and European cities.
BREEAM and LEED are present throughout Europe, BREEAM having been the most awarded certification in the commercial real estate market in 2019. There are nevertheless strong regional disparities:
- BREEAM dominates the market in the UK. The largest area of certifications concentrated in Greater London (from Brentford in the West, to Stratford and Greenwich in the East);
- HQE remains the most awarded certification in France, mainly in the Paris region of Toulouse, Lyon and Marseille.
- DGNB in Germany. The market is divided between Berlin, Hamburg, Frankfurt, Munich and Düsseldorf.
On the city side, the capitals of Paris, London, Warsaw, Madrid, Stockholm and Helsinki, record the greatest certification activity. German cities are under-represented because DGNB® information was not available at city level. The certified zones concern both historic centers and business districts.
Issues & performance: the choices of project leaders
Targeted high performance levels
In Greater Paris, nearly 20% of certifications reach an Excellent level for BREEAM and an Exceptional level for HQE.
In the same dynamic, Madrid, which entered the ranking of the most active cities in terms of environmental certification this year, also records very high performance levels: more than 90% of LEED certifications reach the Gold level in the Spanish capital. .
New for 2020: VERDE certification
This regional certification, used in Spain, is this year included in the Barometer. It has more than 60 certified projects between 2008 and 2019 in Spain, with a certified surface area of over 1 m².
Certifications on well-being, digital and biodiversity continue to settle in the sector.
- The WELL certification, launched by the IWBI in 2014, highlights expertise combining health, well-being and construction: more than 29 certified projects and 1376 projects registered in the process of certification within the scope of the study in Europe.
- The OsmoZ label, launched by Certivéa in March 2018, places the quality of life of users and CSR performance at the center of the criteria observed: 6 labeled projects, 10 pilot operations and 28 projects undergoing certification in 2019 located throughout France.
- The R2S - Ready 2 Services label, issued by Certivéa since June 2018 to make digital buildings adaptive and pleasant to live in: 10 pilot operations, 5 labeled projects and 29 projects undergoing certification in 2019 located in France.
- The WiredScore label, relating to the connectivity of tertiary buildings and attesting to the speed, access to Very High Speed networks and the resilience of infrastructure and networks to power cuts: the United Kingdom is in head with 445 registered and 181 certified projects, followed by France with 122 registered and 79 certified projects.
- The BiodiverCity label, set up by the CIBI (International Biodiversity and Real Estate Council) assesses the performance of real estate projects integrating biodiversity in their design and construction and giving place to nature in the city. Between 2014 and 2019, 62 projects were certified. The number of BiodiverCity certified projects has increased sevenfold since 7.
Stakeholders express their expectations in terms of certification
101 European players (engineers, architects, investors, developers, real estate companies, sustainability consultants, environmental management) were interviewed as part of the 2020 Environmental Certification Barometer. The objective: to know their expectations in this area for the years to come. come. The study thus shows that:
- Regarding environmental benefits, the priorities are essentially to reduce energy consumption, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve air quality.
- For economic benefits, other advantages are put forward: creating more efficient buildings, increasing the value of buildings and creating a brand image for the company.
- Finally for the social benefits, the advantages are: to increase the health and the well-being of the occupants and to provide a third party verification.
“We are delighted, once again this year, to present the Environmental Certification Barometer. An essential annual meeting since 2014, this edition is once again an opportunity to take stock of the underlying trends in the "green building" market in Europe and thus provide players with solid comparison indicators, necessary for the decision-making in their real estate projects. We are delighted to note in this 7th edition that certifications on well-being, digital and biodiversity continue to grow and continue to settle in the European tertiary real estate sector. Finally, we would like to underline the even stronger involvement and real desire of real estate players for a successful environmental transition. " Ella Etienne-Denoy, CEO of Green Soluce