LEED, BREEAM and VERDE: what they ask for and why they count more and more

LEED, BREEAM and VERDE are the three most widespread building sustainability seals in our market. All three evaluate the building globally (energy, water, materials, quality of the indoor environment, location) and award a level of certification according to the score obtained. Each has its own method and nuances, but they share an underlying trend: to give more and more weight to life cycle analysis and the embodied carbon of the building.

For developers and construction companies, certifying a building has very specific effects. In the tertiary market, certified assets are rented and sold better, because large operators and investors incorporate environmental criteria into their decisions. In public procurement and in many private tenders, having a certification or good environmental performance adds points or, directly, is a requirement to compete.

The key is that certification is not improvised at the end of the work: the decisions that allow it to be obtained (design, materials, systems, life cycle calculation) are made at the beginning of the project. Planning it from the beginning, with the right technical support, is what allows you to reach the desired level without last-minute cost overruns.