Sustainable construction is booming and, increasingly, the industry globally adheres to this movement, emerging new green seals to certify sustainability in the sector; hence companies, organizations and individuals are adapted to develop their projects towards standards in green building, such as zero energy consumption, certifications endorse this practice and Nelson Rafael Bustamante Abidar gives us details of the two most recent ones.
New green seals
Also known as green seals, they arose from the need for experts to certify the sustainability of a work, based on clear and standardized criteria, with the aim of providing assurance of excellence in the good environmental performance of a building under construction.
In this way, they certify sustainability in construction, with the objective of guaranteeing the requirements and conditions that different organizations impose in this regard. Since 1980 we have the oldest known certification, and its work has spread all over the world.
The newest green seals to certify sustainability in the construction industry are:
1.- Sustainable Building Certification.
It was introduced as a new seal by AENOR at the beginning of 2022. They seek to make it one of the pioneering green seals in terms of ESG criteria, i.e. environmental, social and governance. The new certification is based on two fundamental assessment pillars, which constitutes a twofold commitment to the sustainability of buildings:
First, they must include in the construction a minimum percentage of products manufactured with sustainable criteria.
The second pillar is that buildings will be evaluated according to the Level(S) macro-objectives.
The indicators developed by the European Commission were taken for evaluation, and will be implemented throughout construction, taking into account three levels:
- Basic project
- Final design and execution
- Delivery and use of the building
- The objective of AENOR’s Sustainable Building Certification is to be accessible to different types of buildings and constructions, whether they are in use or new construction.
2.- AENOR N Sustainable
Created during the first quarter of 2022 to certify sustainability in construction, becoming the first endorsement that exists in Spain for this area and supports a product, not only in terms of quality, but also to ensure that the product is sustainable meeting the three ESG criteria, under a social, environmental and corporate governance approach.
The assessment will give a numerical indicator, reflecting the sustainable commitment of the assessed manufacturer and must be renewed every year, so that the evolution of the initially assessed product can be checked.
These two new green seals are added to the most recognized and oldest ones, such as:
Breem, created in England since 1990, and is managed by recognized assessors.
Leed, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, created in the 1990s in the United States. The figure of the certifier is not managed, but there are accredited professionals who fulfill the task; in fact, more than 50 thousand buildings in the world have been registered and have received this seal.
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