Real estate certi­fi­ca­tions

Would you like to take your existing property or devel­opment project into the future?

The Wüest Partner Group offers auditing and consulting services for national and inter­na­tional sustainable certi­fi­cation standards for new buildings, existing buildings, and entire real estate portfolios. We support you with our expertise to ensure your projects meet the highest standards.

Although obtaining building certi­fi­cation is voluntary, it plays a crucial role in enhancing the sustain­ability of property valua­tions and trans­ac­tions. It not only objec­tively showcases the property’s quality to tenants and investors but also increases its overall value. The certi­fi­cation require­ments also serve as a guideline for continuous improve­ments to the building and its management processes. In most cases, they include compre­hensive measures relating to the building’s technology and location.

Your added value through real estate certi­fi­cation

1. Energy efficiency, sustain­ability, and climate protection
2. Property compa­ra­bility
3. Subsidies and better mortgage condi­tions
4. Improved long-term rentability
5. Commu­ni­cation tool
6. Higher property value for little additional investment

Choosing the right certi­fi­cation

We will be happy to guide you through the inter­na­tional real estate certi­fi­cation landscape and help you identify the right standard.

The certi­fi­cation processes can differ consid­erably and, therefore, the verifi­cation processes require varying levels of effort. Irrespective of this, you must always request certi­fi­cation from the relevant body. The Wüest Partner Group checks the quality and completeness of your documents and supports you through the verifi­cation process, ensuring the building certi­fi­cation is submitted in a timely, resourceful manner throughout the planning and construction phase.

BREEAM

Founded in 1990, BREEAM is the oldest certi­fi­cation system on the market for assessing building sustain­ability, operation, and use. It considers a wide range of criteria, including energy and ecology. BREEAM takes a holistic approach and can be applied in every life cycle phase – from planning and new construction to operation and refur­bishment. The biggest difference to other certi­fi­ca­tions is the adaptation to national standards by the National Scheme Operator (NSO). If no NSO is available for a country, the inter­na­tional criteria catalog applies. BREEAM is the most widely used certi­fi­cation system worldwide.

LEED

Leadership in Energy and Environ­mental Design (LEED) is a globally recog­nized American label that assesses the sustain­ability of neigh­bor­hoods and buildings. The certi­fi­cation process examines project devel­opment, planning, and imple­men­tation against eight sustain­ability aspects. Different system variants enable certi­fi­cation for all building types and construction phases, as well as for interior fit-out, operation, and mainte­nance. It takes a holistic certi­fi­cation approach, rather than focusing on individual aspects.

WELL Building Standard

The WELL Building Standard can be applied to both new and existing commercial and office properties. It considers three project types: new and existing buildings, new and existing interiors, and building core and envelope. With a focus on optimizing human well-being and health, it evaluates a building’s impact on its users based on 10 concepts: air, water, nourishment, light, movement, thermal comfort, sound, materials, mind, and community.

Minergie, Minergie‑P, and Minergie‑A

The Minergie standard forms the basis for climate-friendly construction with a focus on comfort, value retention, and efficiency.
In the Minergie‑P standard, the building envelope is insulated and subjected to an airtightness test to optimize energy efficiency and indoor climate.
The Minergie‑A standard aims to minimize green­house gas emissions during construction and operation so that the building has a negative energy balance year-round, i.e. it produces more energy than it consumes.

Minergie-ECO

Minergie-ECO can be combined with all three Minergie labels and is suitable for both new and existing buildings. A flexible building concept, an environ­men­tally friendly choice of materials, and a focus on water and biodi­versity supplement the Minergie criteria. The goal is to construct a building that provides an optimal indoor climate, uses recycled materials, is ecological, and generates low energy costs.

SNBS-Hochbau

The Swiss Sustainable Building Standard (SNBS) certi­fi­cation defines detailed criteria in the areas of society, economy, and environment. It applies to new buildings in the office/administration, residential, and educa­tional sectors.
We also support ongoing projects until completion. These are reviewed and, if necessary, adapted to any updated standard require­ments. As SNBS building construction is based on Minergie certi­fi­cation in many respects, dual certi­fi­cation simplifies checks on both labels.

SNBS-Areal

The SNBS-Areal building standard is designed for site devel­opment and can therefore be pre-certified during this initial phase. It covers new or existing buildings of all use types in their various life cycles. The SNBS-Areal standard does not certify individual buildings; rather, it views site devel­opment as a strategic process and a dimension of spatial devel­opment. The verifi­cation process is concept-based. Durable, part of the Wüest Partner Group, developed SNBS-Areal on behalf of the Swiss Sustainable Building Network (Nachhaltiges Bauen Schweiz: NNBS). We support you in strategic design and concept devel­opment while accom­pa­nying you through all stages of the certi­fi­cation process.

Minergie-Areal

Minergie-Areal pursues the objec­tives of comfort, efficiency, and climate protection. The require­ments for obtaining this certi­fi­cation include various factors: The site must have an energy reference area of at least 3000 m², be spatially contiguous, and comprise at least two buildings. A combi­nation of existing and new buildings is possible, whereby the new buildings must be Minergie-certified and meet the require­ments for climate-adapted outdoor facil­ities, mobility, and organi­zation.

2000 Watt sites

Since September 2023, the two new site labels, Minergie-Areal and SNBS-Areal, have replaced the previous 2000 Watt Site label. However, existing certifi­cates can be trans­ferred to one of the new site standards via a simplified procedure.

SGNI

The Swiss Sustainable Building Council (SGNI) imple­ments the DGNB standard in Switzerland. It is considered the most compre­hensive sustain­ability standard in the country and can certify residential, office, and educa­tional buildings as well as hotel, retail, and laboratory facil­ities. While the SNBS standard focuses on new buildings and conver­sions, SGNI offers several variants, such as certi­fi­cation for interior fit-out, existing buildings, or building management. In addition, SGNI enables Swiss standards and tools to be used to obtain an inter­na­tional label.

DGNB

Certi­fi­cation by the German Sustainable Building Council (DGNB) is based on a life cycle approach, compre­hen­siveness, and perfor­mance orien­tation. The certi­fi­cation variant depends on a project’s use and life cycle, from planning through to completion. It assesses the ecological, economic, and socio-cultural aspects of interiors, buildings, neigh­bor­hoods, or portfolios over a project’s entire life cycle.

BNB

The Assessment System for Sustainable Building (BNB) of the German Federal Ministry of Housing, Urban Devel­opment, and Building is a real estate certi­fi­cation system exclu­sively for German federal and public buildings. It supple­ments the Guideline for Sustainable Building of the Federal Ministry of Construction as a method for the overall assessment of buildings and their surroundings, with the primary aim of optimizing buildings and their surroundings. In addition to the final assessment and documen­tation of the building quality achieved, the BNB is also used for quality assurance and control during planning and construction. System variants are available for office and admin­is­tration buildings, educa­tional buildings, laboratory buildings, and outdoor facil­ities.

Barbara Pataki

Durable
E‑Mail
T +41 44 517 00 51

Durable specializes in planning and consulting on sustainable solutions for the construction and real estate sectors. The team combines extensive knowledge of archi­tecture, clean energy, and sustain­ability. Durable is a fully owned subsidiary of the Wüest Partner Group.

www.studiodurable.ch