Building Certification

A comprehensive certification process is essential in order to assess buildings in terms of their contribution to sustainable development. The first small step is the legally required energy performance certificate, to be issued according to the EU guidelines for “Overall Energy Efficiency in Buildings”. Experts expect this to have an affect on real estate appraisals. However, the current energy certificate is just a beginning, a rating for overall energy performance and then a life-cycle assessment will need to follow.

At present, several international building sustainability certification systems are already on the market, such as the American LEED building certificate, the British BREEAM, and the German DGNB, and the Austrian ÖGNB and ÖGNI certificates will gain greatly in importance in the future.

As independent civil engineers, Pos architects can join together with time-tested leading consultants in this area to assume responsibility for a suitably objective and professionally prepared certificate of sustainability, and also take steps to obtain other building certificates.

In each case, the goal is to provide valuable expertise for independent evaluation and enhance the value of our clients’ real estate.