A chronology of sustainable building certification schemes

[edit] Background

Sustainable building certifications or green building rating tools are in many ways a standardised part of the construction industry as they help to guide, assess, and recognise buildings that meet certain sustainability criteria or standards. These criteria can vary from simple energy use to much more holistic assessments of environmental impacts. They are a tool to help drive down the impact of the construction industry and might be used by planners, the government, local communities, and clients to create more sustainable buildings. In general, the tools rely on third-party verification to ensure accuracy and subjective assessment.

[edit] The earliest certification scheme

Some of the first and earliest building certification schemes, both global and national frameworks, started to appear in the 1990's, either as a result of or in coordination with the First Assessment Report (FAR) by the newly established International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published in 1990 or the Earth Summit held in Rio in 1992. Examples of these early certification schemes are:

• Der Blaue Engel, or Blue Angel, is an environmental product labelling scheme or eco-label that was established in Germany. It is not exclusively related to building products but to a wide range of products that are assessed in connection with the protection of the environment and health. It was launched in 1978.
• BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method) is a holistic, initially non-domestic assessment method for buildings, initially only for the UK, which launched in 1990.
• Passivhaus, a building physics and energy use certification scheme, was first employed in Germany in 1990.
• Energy Star, a certification scheme that initially focused on products but later also whole buildings, is a U.S. certification scheme administered by the Environmental Protection Agency and launched in 1992.
• LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is a holistic green building rating system offering environmental, social, and governance benefits. The scheme was initially based in the US and launched in 1998, then became publicly available in 2000.
• NABERS (National Australian Built Environment Rating System) is a holistic sustainability measurement tool that provides simple, reliable, and comparable measures across different building sectors. It is based in Australia and launched in 1998.

[edit] Millennium boom in certification schemes

While there are also other examples of country-specific certification schemes focused on construction, such as Minergie in Switzerland, which launched in 1998, and the EEWH, which launched in Taiwan in 1999, it was the Millennium that brought the majority of certification schemes to the table. The list below gives country-relevant and global certification schemes along with their launch dates. The business of certification is today a significant one; there are indeed many different schemes to choose from, leading to some criticism that the market is flooded with options, though the impacts on the performance of buildings are significant.

In a similar way, the work of Keiner and Kim looked at city networks that engaged local actors in relation to sustainability action in the early millennia, showing a similar boom during certain periods. Their work, Transnational City Networks for Sustainability (2007), showed that between the launch of the local Agenda 21 in 1992 and the Millennium Declaration, there was a huge boom in sustainability-related networks. As these were seen as a way of supporting local action on a global scale, as described by Lafferty, W. M., in Sustainable Communities in Europe (2001), However, by the time of the Millennium, many of these networks had all but disappeared, with the suggestion by A. Labaeye and T. Sauer in City Networks and the Socio-Ecological Transition: A European Inventory (2013) that the market had effectively reached saturation point by mid-2000.

[edit] Inventory of certification schemes

It is not clear if an inventory of all of the building certification schemes has been made and how many have continued to survive some 30 years later, though it seems many are still in operation and actively assessing building design and performance in operation. Below is an alphabetical list of building assessment methods, ranging from regional to national to global scale, and in the nature of what they assess, some are principle-based, often with a philosophy of construction behind them. The list is not exhaustive and if any scheme are missing please add with the relevant link.

[edit] Product level certification schemes

• ANAB - Architettura Naturale
• BuiltReady
• CarbonCare
• Carbon Neutral Product Certification
• CE marking
• Certified Envirodesic.
• Code for Sustainable Homes UK (not running) 2007
• CodeMark (Australia)
• Cradle to Cradle
• Energy Performance Declaration
• Energy Star
• Forest Stewardship Council
• Green Circle
• Greenguard
• Green Tick
• Green Seal
• Green Shield Certified
• GreenSL Sri Lanka 2012
• Green Squared
• IBO (Austria)
• IECEE CB Scheme
• International Green Mark (IGM) (Qatar)
• Natural Stone Sustainability Standard (ANSI 373)
• Passivhaus components
• Product Environmental Footprint PEF
• Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) schemes
• SGBC’s Singapore Green Building Product labelling scheme
• SCS Global Services
• SIRIM Certified
• SMaRT Consensus Sustainable Product Standards
• WaterSense

[edit] Building level certification schemes

• Active House 2011
• ARZ rating system 2008
• Assessment Standard for Green Building of China
• Alta Qualidade Ambiental (AQUA) Brasil
• BCA Green Mark Scheme Singapore 2005
• BDF Germany 1989
• Bundesverband Deutscher Fertigbau (BDF) Germany
• BEAM Plus - Hong Kong 2010
• BERDE - Philippines- 2009
• BOMA Go Green - BOMA BESt U.S 2005
• Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) 1990
• BREEAM-NOR
• BREEAM-NL
• BREEAM-SE
• BRE Home Quality Mark UK 2015
• Built Green U.S. 1999
• Casa - Colombia
• CASBEE -Japan 2002
• Danish Indoor Climate Label
• DEC
• Deutsche Gesellschaft für Nachhaltiges Bauen (DGNB) Germany
• DGNB System
• DGBC Woonmerk
• Earth Advantage
• EarthCheck (travel)
• Eco-Schools
• EDGE 2013
• Edama Jordan 2009
• EEWH Taiwan 1999
• Effinature Europe 2009
• Energystar U.S. 1992
• EPC
• Estidama Pearl UAE 2007
• EU GreenBuilding Programme EU 2005
• Fitwel US 2017
• GBC Brasil CASA
• GBAS China
• GPRS Egypt 2009
• Green Building Index 2009
• Green Key Global Denmark 1994
• Green Star (Australia) 2003
• Green Star SA (South Africa)
• GBC Home
• Global Sustainability Assessment System (Middle East and North Africa)
• Green Pyramid Rating System (GPRS) Egypt 2008
• Green Star SA Kenya
• GRESB 2009
• HERS
• Home Performance Index
• Homestar New Zealand 2010
• HQE France 2005
• ICP U.S. 2016
• IGBC India 2001
• International Green Construction Code (IGCC) 2009
• ILFI Zero Energy and Zero Carbon 2018
• Inside/inside
• Korea Green Building Certification South Korea 2002
• Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) 1998
• Level(s) EU 2020
• Lider A Portugal
• Living Building Challenge 2006
• LOTUS Vietnam 2009
• LowCO2 Certification Australia 2002
• MSCI Global Green Building Index 2009
• Miljöbyggnad Sweden 2011
• Minergie Switzerland 1998
• NABERS NZ 1998
• NAHB Green U.S. 2005
• NZEB EU 2011
• Pakistan Green Building Guideline (PGBG) BD+C
• Parksmart
• Passivhaus Germany and global 1990
• Pearl Rating System for Estidama (UAE) 2007
• PBRS Pearl Building Rating System (UAE) 2007
• PEER
• PromisE Finland
• Protocollo Itaca Italy
• Qatar Sustainability Assessment System (QSAS) 2010
• QSAS 2010
• Qualitätssiegel Nachhaltiges Gebäude (QNG) Germany 2021
• RELi U.S. 2012
• SKA UK 2009
• Singapore’s national green building rating tool Green Mark
• SGBC’s Singapore Green Building Services certification scheme
• SITES U.S. 2015
• Swiss DGNB System
• TARSHEED Egypt 2015
• The Gold Standard 2006
• TerriGriha India
• TRUE U.S. 2013
• VERDE Spain 2018
• WELL Building Standard 2013
• Zero Tool
• Zero Waste

[edit] Community level certification schemes

• Audubon International
• BREEAM Communities
• David Bellamy Conservation Award
• EcoVillage
• Star Communities
• LEED Neighbourhood Development
• CASBEE
• Green Star Communities
• The Gold Standard
• LEEP
• BRE Home Quality Mark
• Green Globes
• Living Building Challenge
• NZEB
• Passive House Institute
• SITES
• WELL Building Standard
• BCA Green Mark Scheme
• Beam
• CASBEE
• EDGE

[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings

• Achieving zero carbon.
• Carbon emissions.
• Carbon plan.
• Climate change science.
• Climate Change Levy.
• Climate Change Committee progress reports.
• Conference of parties all events.
• COP28 and the Path Ahead for Industry.
• COP21 Paris 2015.
• COPs and the last day of no 28.
• CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme.
• Energy Act.
• Emission rates.
• Energy related products regulations.
• Energy targets.
• Environment and sustainability frameworks, assessments and certifications in their historical context.
• Government net zero review 2022.
• Greenhouse gases.
• Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change IPCC.
• Kyoto protocol.
• LETI calls for responses to BEIS net zero review.
• Net zero carbon 2050.
• Net Zero Review underlines role for engineering services.
• Net zero strategy: build back greener.
• Sustainability.
• Sustainable development concepts decade by decade.
• The Edge policy proposals for the built and natural environment 2022.
• The Low Carbon Transition Plan: National strategy for climate and energy.
• The sustainability of construction works.
• UK Climate Change Risk Assessment.

[edit] External links

https://www.ecolabelindex.com/ecolabels/

https://worldgbc.org/sustainable-building-certifications/