Tools & Guides
Tools and guides to help you start your sustainability journey.
Accreditation Pathways
Discover the right accreditation for your organisation. Explore some of the common types, standards, and pathways below or find further resources here.
Energy Performance Certificate (EPC)
An Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) is a report that assesses the energy efficiency of a property, providing recommendations for improvement. Note that EPC regulations are currently changing and commercial buildings may need a rating of B + by 2030.
BREEAM
First published by the Building Research Establishment (BRE) in 1990, BREEAM is the world’s longest established method of assessing, rating, and certifying the sustainability of buildings. It recognises and reflects the value in higher performing assets across the built environment lifecycle, from new construction to in-use and refurbishment.
LEED
Like BREEAM, LEED is an internationally recognised green building program. It provides building owners and operators with a framework for identifying and implementing practical and measurable green building design, construction, operations and maintenance solutions. LEED promotes design and construction practices that increase profitability, whilst also reducing the negative environmental impacts of buildings.
SKA
SKA rating helps landlords and tenants assess fit-out projects against a set of sustainability criteria. This consists of 109 individual good-practice measures, covering everything from energy and CO2 to waste and pollution. Assessments are carried out at three stages: design, delivery and occupancy and projects can achieve ratings of Bronze, Silver or Gold based on performance.
Fitwel
Fitwel is a building rating system for commercial interiors that provides guidelines on how to design and operate healthier buildings. It specifically looks at staff wellbeing, and rates a building based on 7 health impact categories. Fitwel has identified 63 evidence-backed strategies that have proven to increase the health & wellbeing of building occupants. What’s more, the rating system can be used as a roadmap to aid the design of your new office.
WELL Building
Launched in 2015, WELL is now the world’s leading tool for advancing health and well-being in buildings. To do so, it utilises a flexible framework for improving health and human experience through design.
WIREDScore
Founded in 2013, WIRED SCORE is tasked with making the world’s buildings better connected. Although the process varies per client and project, there are three standard steps to WIREDScore:
- Engineers evaluate a building’s connectivity and digital infrastructure
- Test results provided to WiredScore
- If a building passes the assessment, WiredScore promotes your space via third-party platforms
The idea is that this will enable a more collaborative, innovative and dynamic future for all of us.
AirRated
AirRated delivers an easily recognisable, international benchmark for Indoor Air Quality (IAQ). The certification is underpinned by leading medical and scientific research and industry best practice guidelines. Of course, this accreditation has become even more important in the past couple of years. And with staff returning to the office, this is definitely one to consider.
GRESB
GRESB is a relatively new entry certification that’s objective is to make real estate a sustainable long-term investment. The GRESB Real Estate Assessment is the global standard for ESG benchmarking and reporting for listed property companies, private property funds, developers and investors that invest directly in real estate.
BCORP
Although it’s not property-specific, this certification is only awarded to businesses with the highest social and environmental performance. Essentially, ‘B Corps’ balance purpose and profit; they consider the impact of their decisions on their workers, customers, suppliers, community, and the environment.
Albert
Albert Certification, developed by BAFTA, is the industry standard for sustainable production in film and television.
What Is albert Certification?
To achieve albert certification, productions must:
- Complete a Carbon Footprint Assessment: Use albert’s tools to calculate your production’s environmental impact.
- Create and Implement a Carbon Action Plan: Develop strategies to reduce emissions in key areas such as energy, travel, materials, and waste.
- Submit Evidence: Provide documentation to demonstrate sustainable practices.
