Added value of certified districts

STUDY MAY 2018

Added value of certified districts

Nordhavn, Copenhagen Urban district © By & Havn / Peter Sørensen

Survey about the added value of certified districts The German Sustainable Building Council (DGNB) has been awarding certificates to sustainable districts since 2012. More than 50 projects, both in Germany and other countries, have successfully obtained certificates so far, making the DGNB a European market leader in this sector.

The DGNB can certify urban districts, business districts, vertical cities, resorts and open event areas. The DGNB is also the world's only provider of certifications for industrial sites.

DGNB-CERTIFIED DISTRICTS

34 urban districts © Fürst Development GmbH

8 office and business districts © Gateway Gardens

The added value that sustainable planning and implementa­ tion as well as certification offers has now been ascertained by a survey. The study was developed as a part of a thesis at the University of Biberach, for which questionnaires were sent to all of DGNB's current and former clients, DGNB auditors and participating planners.

6 industrial sites

A total of 134 people were invited to take part in the survey, 18 of whom responded (response rate of 13%). Current and former clients constituted the largest group of respondents (61%), followed by DGNB auditors (33%) and planners (6%).

The majority of those surveyed (78%) are or have been involved in the development of urban districts. 11% of respondents to the survey are working or have worked with office and business districts or industrial sites. This reflects the distribution of the projects that have been implemented thus far, the majority of which (with over 30 awards) have been in urban districts.

The respondents were asked if the project they were answe­ ring the survey about was related to a pre-certificate or a certificate. 68% of participants were involved in a project that received pre-certification.

© Volkswagen Poznan

1 vertical cities © Bloom Images / Groß & Partner

1 resort © Center Parcs

1 event area © Espai Barca

DGNB STUDY – May 18

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Survey WHY DID YOU (PRE-)CERTIFY THE DISTRICT?

Why participants wanted the certification was the first ques­ tion which has been asked inside the survey. Participants could choose as many answers as they liked from a list of options. They were also allowed to provide their own answers (under »Other«).

The results show that the reasons behind certification are complex. Improving the image of the district – and conse­ quently that of the company – was obviously mentioned most frequently. The aim of improving the quality of the project came second. This is an interesting result given that this, i.e. improving the sustainability of projects with the help of the system, is also one of DGNB's main concerns. CSR requi­ rements, by contrast, along with issues such as risk minimi­ sation and employee productivity, do not (yet) seem to be cause for certification.

»DGNB certification of our business districts enables us to attract our desired target group of innovative companies and encourage them to settle in our administrative district of Harburg.« Wilfried Seyer, Managing Director WLH | Economic Development Agency of Harburg District

Copyright. Photo: Hauke Gilbert / © WLH

The question was answered by 100 percent of respondents, with total number of 68 answers (Fig. 1).

FIG. 1 WHY DID YOU (PRE-)CERTIFY THE DISTRICT?

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WHAT ADDED VALUE DID THE CERTIFICATION PROCESS BRING TO THE PROJECT?

Most of the districts that have been honoured by the DGNB so far are still in development and not fully certified yet. This is also reflected in the number of answers. Nevertheless, it's clear to see that increasing the value of the properties in a district is often a key outcome of certification. Increasing staff satisfaction, improving energy efficiency and the water supply, optimising the planning process and reducing the environ­ mental impact are clearly important factors too.

The question was answered by 67% of respondents. As this question could only be answered fully by people directly involved in project certification (27% of respondents – four urban districts and an industrial site), however, only their responses were used to answer this question. Participants were able to choose as many points as they liked from a list of eight options. They could also provide their own answers.

»At a site where committed institutional investors attach importance to certifying buildings, certifying districts is important too because they affect each other's value.« Prof. Dr. Elmar Schütz, Head of Development Aurelis Real Estate GmbH I Region Central

Copyright. Photo © Aurelis

FIG. 2 WHAT ADDED VALUE DID THE CERTIFICATION PROCESS BRING TO THE PROJECT?

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POTENTIAL EXTRA INCOME THANKS TO DISTRICT CERTIFICATION

There were various responses to the question »How much more were you able to ask for one square metre in a certi­ fied district compared to one square metre in a non-certified district?« The question was answered by 11% of respondents.

According to their answers, on average they can charge €3.50/m² more.

+3,50 € per m²

»We have now supervised over ten districts as auditors. In our experience, individual plots of building land in DGNB-certified districts fetch higher selling prices – on average €5 per square metre of the gross site area. In a small tenhectare district, that's about €500.000« Gregor C. Grassl, Head of Green City Development Drees & Sommer Advanced Building Technologies GmbH

average increasein sales revenue per square metre of the gross site area

ADDITIONAL COSTS INCURRED BY DISTRICT CERTIFICATION

The participants were asked how high the costs incurred by the certification. In general, respondents estimated the additi­ onal costs of certification at less than 1% of the project costs.

In contrast, there is the potential to earn extra income thanks to having the project certified.

HIGHER RENTAL APPEAL

»Roughly how much more do certified projects rent for (in comparison to similar, non-certified projects)?« Respondents could choose between various percentages ranging from 0 to 20%. The average calculated from these answers was 12%.

The question was answered by 33% of respondents.

The question was answered by 39% of respondents (four pre-certificates and three final-certificates).

<1%

Increase in costs due to project certification

12%

Average higher rent that can be obtained for certified projects

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REPEAT CERTIFICATION

Lastly, participants were asked if they would have a district certified again. Of the respondents who answered this question, 92% would certify a district again, whereas only one respondent would not consider it for future projects.

The question was answered by 72% of respondents.

92%

Would have a district certified again

»We decided to use the DGNB label as we believe it was – and still is – the most discerning label on the market« Michel Knepper, Operations Director GROSSFELD PAP S.A.

RESULTS

In conclusion, the additional costs incurred by district certi­ fication (i.e. less than 1% of the total costs of the project) are practically negligible. The survey shows that sustainable districts are profitable – from an economic, environmental and social point of view. In addition to added economic value, certified projects benefit from higher user satisfaction and better environmental qualities, as well as optimised planning in general. This is also reflected in the question of whether the survey's participants would have another district certified by the DGNB in future: 92% of participants said that they would. »Berlin TXL was the world's first business district to be given the platinum sustainability pre-certificate by the DGNB. […] We can report that this award is helpful to us in positioning the site.« Dr. Philipp Bouteiller , Managing Director TEGEL PROJEKT GMBH

Copyright. Photo: Gerhard Kassner

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Siedlung Westend, Berlin Urban district

Maidar Eco City, Mongolia Urban district

Neckarbogen, Heilbronn Urban district

FOUR, Frankfurt a.M. Vertical City

Center Parcs Park, Allgäu Resort

Espai Barça, Barcelona Event area

© tegnestuen vandkunsten

© Maidar City LLC

© BUGA 2019 Heilbronn GmbH

© Bloom Images / Groß & Partner

© Center Parcs

© Espai Barca

Europaviertel, Frankfurt a.M. Urban district

©aurelis Real Estate GmbH & Co. KG

Cloche d‘or, Luxembourg Urban district

©grossfeld pap s.a.

Aeschbachquartier, Aarau Urban district © Visus: comm.ag / Fotos: Dominique Meienberg

Berlin TXL – The Urban Tech Republic Office and business district

Urbane Mitte, Berlin Office and business district

Motorenwerk VW, Chemnitz Industrial sites

© Andreas Schiebel

© Urbane Mitte Berlin

© Volkswagen Sachsen GmbH

DGNB STUDY – May 18

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Foto: © swencarlin.com

German Sustainable Building Council – DGNB e.V. Founded in 2007, the DGNB today constitutes Europe's largest network for sustainable construction with around 1200 member organisations. The association aims to promote sustainability in the construction and real estate industry as well as anchoring this in the consciousness of the general public. Through the DGNB certification system, the independent non-profit organisation has developed a planning and optimisation tool for assessing the sustainability of buildings

and districts, which helps to increase real sustainability in construction projects. This means that the DGNB system is based on an integrated understanding of sustainability that incorporates the environment, people and the economy in equal measure. Additionally, through the DGNB Academy education and training platform, more than 3000 people in over 30 countries have already been qualified as experts in sustainable construction.

Contact: Dr. Stephan Anders

Authors and contributors: Anastasia Dridiger, Dr. Stephan Anders, Helena Bickel, Mario Schneider

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Nachhaltiges Bauen – DGNB e.V. German Sustainable Building Council Tübinger Straße 43 70178 Stuttgart, Germany

+49 711 722322-45

s.anders@dgnb.de

www.dgnb.de/en

© Copyright DGNB May 2018 All rights reserved. All information has been prepared and compiled with the utmost care. The DGNB assumes no liability for the accuracy or completeness of this content or for any changes that may have occurred since its publication..