Sustainable building certifications – also known as green building rating tools – are used to assess and recognise buildings which meet certain sustainability requirements or standards.
Building certifications recognise and reward companies and organisations who build and operate greener buildings, thereby encouraging and incentivising them to push the boundaries on sustainability.
They kick-start the market by setting standards that in turn elevate the ambition of government building codes and regulation, workforce training, and corporate strategies.
Certifications vary in their approach and can be applied to the planning and design, construction, operation, maintenance, renovation, and eventual demolition phases of a building.
Sustainable building certifications can also differ in the type of buildings they are applied to, with specific tools or subsets of tools used for different building types such as homes, commercial buildings, or even whole neighbourhoods.
Green Building Councils, which are members of the World Green Building Council (WorldGBC) global network, develop and administer many of the world’s building certifications.
By 2021, 4.2 billion square metres of green building space had been certified around the world through member Green Building Councils.
WorldGBC recognises the power that building certifications have had in transforming the sustainability of building practices, and firmly supports their use.
Below is a list of building certifications (in alphabetical order) that are administered by our Green Building Councils. This is not a comprehensive list, as there are a number of certifications that exist but are not administered by a Green Building Council.
