What is the situation of certified buildings? In which sectors are they increasing the most? The latest report released by PLGBC answers these questions.
As part of our #ReportThursday series, we present documents, reports and guides on architecture, cities and local government that are certainly worth publicizing and promoting. This week we look at this week's installment of the "Sustainable Certified Buildings 2024" report produced by PLGBC.
The report was compiled by Dawid Franke and Alicja Kuczera. This is the next installment of this document, which aims to summarize changes related to the emergence of building certification, observe these trends and determine their direction. Descriptions of the previous editions, from 2022 and 2023, are available on our portal.
So how is the building segment related to certified buildings changing?
"Sustainable Certified Buildings 2024" report developed by PLGBC.
© Polish Green Building Association PLGBC
The report is available on the PLGBC website.
effects of the global economy
The first element visible in the report is the impact of the global economic downturn caused by two events: Pandemic COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine. Compared to 2023, the increase in certified space was 2.1 million square meters. This compares with an increase of 7.7 million square meters in 2023. The slowdown in the construction sector was also evident in the certified building sector.
The floor area of certified buildings with a breakdown by certificate
© Polish Green Building Association PLGBC
The undisputed hegemon of certification systems remains BREEAM, which accounts for 86% of the total certified space in Poland. Slowly, though by big steps, the GREEN HOUSE certification is growing, having scored a more than 50% increase in certificates over the previous year. Growth was also credited to the LEED system.
Although a decline in the rate of new space additions was observed, the rate of certification of new buildings clearly increased - a 24% increase year-over-year. This means that there is an increase in smaller certified buildings, even though the growth in space itself is smaller.
growth of certified buildings by certificate
© Polish Green Building Association PLGBC
Which segment is growing fastest?
An important point raised by the summary report is to locate the sectors that dominate the mix of certified buildings. Once again, the warehouse and industrial sector topped the list, with 46.8% of the total certified. This is the second consecutive year that this type of building represents market dominance. In addition, certified warehouse space amounts to 53% of the total modern warehouse space.
share of floor space of certified buildings by industry
© Polish Green Building Association PLGBC
which province do I dominate?
In which part of Poland are there the most certified buildings? As in previous years, it is the Mazowieckie voivodeship. Nevertheless, the distance of the hegemon to the Malopolska and Silesia provinces has been reduced. Significantly, an increase in certified buildings was observed in most provinces - the exceptions are Podlaskie and Opolskie provinces.
certified buildings by location
© Polish Green Building Council PLGBC
what's next?
The report compiled by PLGBC allows us to determine the changes that are taking place in terms of certificate growth. How do specialists see the future of this segment?
We have seen an increase in interest in certification for years, and this trend will probably continue. In addition to the previous driving forces, such as the expectations of investment funds and tenants, good sustainable design or at least marketing aspects, we get further arguments. Building rating systems are very good tools for implementing ESG strategies and raising financing. They contain a number of elements that can, with a little transformation, be translated, for example, into the criteria contained in the ESRS standard or the EU Taxonomy. They also provide a solid basis for calculating embedded and operational carbon footprints (which are the foundations of decarbonization), as well as aspects related to circularity and the circular economy and biodiversity. We hope that legislative (e.g., GOZ) and transformational (primarily energy) changes will come out to meet the expectations and actions of the construction sector, which will help more radically accelerate the process of decarbonization of Polish buildings," comments Marcin Gawronski, PLGBC President, interviewed by Wiktor Bochenek in the April issue of A&B.
The report is available on the PLGBC website.
