Commercial real estate
Best practices for preparing commercial properties for sustainable certifications like WELL, LEED, and BREEAM to add value.
A practical, forward‑looking guide for developers and facility managers to align design, operations, and governance with WELL, LEED, and BREEAM requirements, maximizing asset value and occupant wellbeing.
August 09, 2025 - 3 min Read
In today’s competitive real estate market, pursuing WELL, LEED, or BREEAM certifications signals a commitment to health, efficiency, and low environmental impact. The path to certification starts at the earliest stages of project planning, where goals should align with the client’s business case and stakeholder expectations. Establish a cross‑disciplinary team that includes architects, engineers, interior designers, and operations staff, ensuring that sustainability objectives permeate design decisions. Early feasibility studies should identify performance targets, potential trade‑offs, and budget implications. Documentation and governance structures must be designed to capture progress, provide transparency, and support timely decision making throughout the project lifecycle.
A robust pre‑certification strategy rests on three pillars: performance metrics, occupant experience, and lifecycle cost management. Performance metrics translate certifications into measurable outcomes such as energy use intensity, water efficiency, indoor environmental quality, and materials transparency. Occupant experience focuses on comfort, acoustics, daylight, and wayfinding, which directly influence productivity and wellbeing. Lifecycle cost management examines long‑term maintenance, replacement schedules, and technology obsolescence, ensuring that initial green investments yield enduring value. Integrating these pillars early helps avoid retrofits that disrupt operations and prevents misaligned incentives among project teams, owners, and tenants.
Integrate occupant health and comfort into every design choice.
Establish governance rituals that keep sustainability goals visible across teams and phases. Create a documented decision log that records choices, rationales, and responsible owners for each critical design feature. Assign a chief sustainability officer or a project champion who coordinates cross‑functional input and maintains alignment with certification criteria. Use regular reviews that compare progress against baseline performance targets and emerging certification requirements. Ensure that procurement, commissioning, and facilities management teams participate from the outset, so supplier selections, equipment upgrades, and maintenance plans support long‑term certification readiness rather than short‑term cost suppression.
Build a common data foundation that supports transparent reporting and accountability. Implement a digital platform for tracking energy, water, and material data, with standardized data schemas and real‑time dashboards. Collect climate impact information from suppliers, including Environmental Product Declarations and any third‑party disclosures. Maintain an auditable trail of design decisions, commissioning tests, and retrofit histories. Establish routine data validation and quality control processes to minimize discrepancies during verification. A robust data backbone reduces risk during documentation reviews and strengthens confidence among certification assessors and future tenants.
Design with lifecycle impacts in mind to protect value over time.
The WELL certification path emphasizes indoor environmental quality, air quality, lighting, and thermal comfort. To support these goals, specify low‑emission materials, advanced filtration, controllable lighting, and passive design strategies that promote natural ventilation. Plan for adaptable spaces that can respond to changing uses and occupant needs without compromising performance. Sound management should balance acoustical control with practical, user‑friendly solutions, avoiding over‑complication. Engage tenants early to understand occupant preferences and tailor spaces accordingly, while maintaining a consistent baseline across the building to ensure predictable performance.
Emphasize water stewardship and climate resilience as core sustainability drivers. Choose fixtures with efficient flow rates, capture rainwater where feasible, and reuse greywater for non‑potable applications, all aligned with local codes. Design landscapes with drought‑tolerant species and adaptive irrigation systems that adjust to seasonal changes. Consider flood risk reduction through site grading, permeable pavements, and robust drainage. By addressing water and resilience together, properties gain both compliance and attractiveness to tenants seeking long‑term reliability and reduced operating risks.
Foster tenant engagement and transparent performance communication.
Materials transparency and responsible sourcing are central to credible certification narratives. Prioritize products with credible declarations, recycled content, and durable performance. Create a vendor scorecard that weighs embodied carbon, end‑of‑life recyclability, and supplier ethics, making those criteria explicit in contract language. Document product life cycles and supply chain controls to simplify future re‑certification efforts. Favor modular systems that allow upgrades without wholesale replacement, supporting continuous improvement without disrupting tenants. Transparent procurement helps differentiate a property in competitive markets and enhances investor confidence.
Commissioning and ongoing verification are essential to demonstrate sustained performance. Develop a commissioning plan that spans design, construction, and occupancy, with defined tests, acceptance criteria, and contingency procedures. Use post‑occupancy evaluation to validate assumptions about comfort, air quality, and energy performance, then adjust operations accordingly. Establish a maintenance regime that keeps equipment at peak efficiency, including calibration schedules and routine filter replacements. Regular verification reduces the risk of performance drift, strengthens certification standing, and reinforces tenant satisfaction through consistent, reliable building behavior.
Value, risk, and market advantages through certification readiness.
Tenant involvement is a powerful lever for certification outcomes and value creation. Provide educational materials that explain how to operate equipment efficiently and how wellness features benefit daily work. Host onboarding sessions for new tenants and periodic updates for existing occupants, highlighting energy and water savings, air quality metrics, and sustainable procurement choices. Use accessible dashboards and monthly reports to share progress, targets, and celebratory milestones. Encourage tenants to contribute data through simple feedback channels, enabling continuous improvement without imposing excessive administrative burdens.
Operational policies should support sustainable performance without compromising usability. Implement flexible, light‑touch policies that encourage peak performance while respecting diverse tenant needs. For example, offer programmable shading controls, occupancy sensors, and adjustable temperature bands within approved comfort ranges. Provide clear guidelines on equipment use, maintenance responsibilities, and energy management expectations. Align lease language with sustainability commitments so tenants participate in performance targets rather than feel obligated to bear undue costs.
From an investor’s perspective, certifications translate into lower operating costs and higher asset liquidity. Quantify expected energy savings, water reductions, and waste diversion to support robust financial projections. Include sensitivity analyses that reflect energy price volatility and potential retrofit costs, ensuring transparent risk assessment. Demonstrate marketability by showcasing green features in marketing collateral, tenant stories, and third‑party validation reports. A well‑documented pathway to certification signals future readiness, attracting long‑term tenants and premium rents while reducing vacancy risk and improving resale value.
Finally, view certification as a strategic framework rather than a one‑off audit. Align internal policies, project governance, and supplier relationships with the broader sustainability strategy, making certification a natural outcome of disciplined practice. Regularly revisit targets in response to changes in codes, technologies, and tenant expectations. Invest in staff training, keep abreast of evolving standards, and nurture partnerships with certification bodies and researchers. By embedding continuous improvement into daily routines, owners can sustain performance, maintain competitiveness, and realize enduring value across the building’s lifecycle.
