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Measuring the sustainability of properties

Green Building Labels
Green Building has become a trend-setting movement in the construction and real estate industries worldwide. Sustainable building is currently considered the major growth market in the real estate sector with an increasing number of competent and dedicated competitors. International companies, under close observation by investors and the public have come to realize that choosing sustainable properties will benefit your image and bottom line.

We provide consulting services for global players such as Nestlé, Beiersdorf, Siemens, Novartis and UBS as well as local businesses such as Vivico, KGAL, Aug.Prien, VKB, RheinEnergie etc. concerning the certification process for a number of different labels. Important sustainability labels for properties include LEED (USA), BREEAM (UK), HQE (F), DGNB (GER) and MINERGIE-ECO (CH). There are other labels which are, however, rarely used in Europe and America and are mostly based on the LEED label.

DGNB – the German Sustainable Building Certification
The German Sustainable Building Council (DGNB) founded in 2008 is the German branch of the World Green Building Council. Within its first year, the Council has achieved a strong basis for the development of a German sustainability label in a strategic cooperation between the industry, planners, standardization activities and research institutions. Its most remarkable feature is the integration of economic aspects (life-cycle costs, space efficiency, flexibility) with ecological and process-oriented criteria which are closely linked to the German idea of sustainable properties. Intep is a founding member of the German Sustainable Building Council and two of our employees, Felix Dimigen in Hamburg and Thomas Rühle in Munich, work as auditors for the label.

LEED – the sustainability label by the US Green Building Council
LEED takes a pragmatic approach to sustainability. It is a straightforward system based on the simple addition of individual credits and it touches on the different aspects of sustainable design including resource, water and energy efficiency as well as social and urban aspects. The system is mature, user-friendly and transparent. Four different certification levels (Certified, Silver, Gold and Platinum) allow for variable quality standards based on individual targets and different options depending on the economic, constructional and technical conditions. LEED does not take into account economic aspects. Intep works closely with the USGBC and our employees Stephan Tanner in Minneapolis and Jessica Deem in Zurich are current LEED APs. www.usgbc.org

MINERGIE-ECO – the Swiss quality label
The MINERGIE label was launched 10 years ago with an exclusive focus on aspects of comfort and energy efficiency. Since its merger with the ECO component a couple of years ago, which takes into account additional aspects such as health and building ecology, it has become one of the most ambitious quality labels for sustainable buildings. Its only limitation compared with the labels mentioned above is its exclusive focus on the building itself without considering location factors. Efficient building shell and services as well as clear requirements concerning lighting, noise, radiation, the consumption of resources, the environmental impact of construction and demolition (additional exclusion criteria and minimum requirements) are a precondition for certification and ensure a consistently high quality standard. Intep is a consulting and certification office for the MINERGIE-ECO label and Severing Lenel, Daniel Kellenberg and Birgit Krumsdorf are acknowledged experts in MINERGIE-ECO certification. www.minergieeco.ch