It may come as a shock to many to know that the majority of European sustainability ratings currently in place are fundamentally unable to measure the operational sustainability performance of a building. You could argue that the numerous ranking systems that we may boast our buildings have an “excellent” rating in are superfluous since they are not truly measuring sustainability in use and therefore provide no market transparency. It is clear that as an industry we have had our heads in the sand for too long and it is time that we actually implemented real change throughout Europe. If the real estate industry is able to find a system that measures sustainability in operation, this revelation could be the catalyst needed to really improve our industry across Europe.

Developers, owners and occupiers of new and refurbished buildings might reasonably expect that compliance with building regulations will produce a building that is energy efficient in operation and well on its