Sustainable Building Certifications: A Practical Guide For The UK Market

A practical overview of the most widely used sustainable building certifications in the UK real estate market.

The built environment is awash with a wide array of sustainable building ratings and certifications designed to guide, demonstrate, and record the sustainability achievements of high-performing buildings. Certifications vary in their approach and can be applied to the demolition, planning and design, construction, operation and renovation phases of a building. Sustainable building certifications also differ in the type of buildings they are applied to, with specific tools used for different building types.

These ratings are increasingly important for developers, investors and occupiers who are seeking buildings that align with their sustainability goals —helping them to benchmark performance, set goals, and demonstrate progress in areas like energy efficiency, water use, waste management and occupant wellbeing.