Green Building Advisory

Buildings have a substantial impact on the health and wellbeing of people and the planet. Buildings use resources, generate waste and are costly to maintain and operate. Green building is the practice of designing, constructing and operating buildings to maximize occupant health and productivity, use fewer resources, reduce waste and negative environmental impacts, and decrease life cycle costs.

LEED, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is the most widely used green building rating system in the world. Available for virtually all building, community and home project types, LEED provides a framework to create healthy, highly efficient and cost-saving green buildings. LEED certification is a globally recognized symbol of sustainability achievement.
LEED is for all building types and all building phases including new construction, interior fit outs, operations and maintenance, and core and shell.

There’s a LEED for every type of building project.

• BD+C Building Design and Construction
  For new construction or major renovations; includes New Construction, Core & Shell, Schools, Retail, Hospitality, Data Centers, Warehouses & Distribution Centers, and Healthcare.
• ID+C Interior Design and Construction
  For complete interior fit-out projects; includes Commercial Interiors, Retail and Hospitality.
• O+M Building Operations and Maintenance
  For existing buildings that are undergoing improvement work or little to no construction; includes Existing Buildings, Schools, Retail, Hospitality, Data Centers and Warehouses & Distribution Centers.
• ND Neighborhood Development
  For new land development projects or redevelopment projects containing residential uses, nonresidential uses, or a mix. Projects can be at any stage of the development process, from conceptual planning to construction; includes Plan and Built Project.

Colliers has the most experience in LEED certification in Hungary, with more than 20 certified buildings and fit-out projects, and several currently under construction. Colliers achieved the first LEED Platinum certification in Hungary (for the office of Citibank) and we were the first to certify an office building under the stricter LEED v4 system (Forest Offices Debrecen). This was also the first LEED certified office building outside Budapest.

Colliers is the member of the United States Green Building Council – founder of the LEED certification – and we also hold the LEED Proven Provider designation awarded for experienced organizations that demonstrate consistent excellence in administering LEED projects.

BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method) is the world's longest established method of assessing, rating, and certifying the sustainability of buildings. It covers energy and water use, health and wellbeing, pollution, transport, materials, waste, ecology and management processes. Buildings can be certified as Pass, Good, Very Good, Excellent and Outstanding.

BREEAM works to raise awareness amongst owners, occupiers and designers of the benefits of taking a sustainability approach. It helps them to successfully adopt sustainable solutions in a cost effective manner, and provides market recognition of their achievements.

There are several types of BREEAM.

• BREEAM New Construction is the BREEAM standard against which the sustainability of new, non-residential buildings in the UK is assessed.
• BREEAM International New Construction is the BREEAM standard for assessing the sustainability of new residential and non-residential buildings in countries around the world, except for the UK and other countries with a national BREEAM scheme.
• BREEAM In-Use is a scheme to help building managers reduce the running costs and improve the environmental performance of existing buildings. It has three parts – Part 1 (building asset), Part 2 (building management) and Part 3 (occupier management).
• BREEAM Refurbishment provides a design and assessment method for sustainable housing refurbishment projects, helping to cost effectively improve the sustainability and environmental performance of existing dwellings in a robust way.
• BREEAM Communities focuses on the masterplanning of whole communities. It is aimed at helping construction industry professionals to design places that people want to live and work in, are good for the environment and are economically successful.

Colliers has been involved in the BREEAM In-Use certification of Óbuda Gate and several office buildings of the CA IMMO and CPI portfolios. All of the building earned at a minimum Very Good certification.

WELL is the latest but fast-growing building certification which focuses entirely on the people using the building.

The WELL Building Standard® is a performance-based system for measuring, certifying, and monitoring features of the built environment that impact human health and wellbeing, through air, water, nourishment, light, fitness, comfort, and mind.

WELL is managed and administered by the International WELL Building Institute (IWBI), a public benefit corporation whose mission is to improve human health and wellbeing through the built environment.

WELL is grounded in a body of medical research that explores the connection between the buildings where we spend more than 90 percent of our time, and the health and wellness of its occupants. WELL Certified™ spaces and WELL Compliant™ core and shell developments can help create a built environment that improves the nutrition, fitness, mood, and sleep patterns.

The WELL Building Standard® is third-party certified by the Green Business Certification Incorporation (GBCI). WELL Certification is achieved when projects demonstrate all Preconditions, and a certain number of optimizations in the new WELL v2 system. WELL provides flexibility when selecting features (like LEED credits) that best meet the project’s goals.

WELL Certification is awarded at one of four levels: Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum.