Over the years, approximately 5.6 million commercial buildings have been built in America. It’s safe to say the majority of the owners and property managers have not benchmarked their operations and have little knowledge about how efficient – or not – their building actually is. It’s like trusting you’re living a healthy lifestyle, but never going to a doctor for your annual physical.
Until now, most available green building rating systems have prerequisites to meet before starting the certification program. This unfortunately leaves only the top performing commercial buildings eligible for certification, eliminating the remaining 90 percent. That’s why it made sense to finally bring the BREEAM standard to the United States. Class B and C buildings now have an opportunity to easily improve operations and then certify their buildings with an internationally recognized rating system so they too can realize higher market value.