Our Green Building Score Calculator lets you estimate how sustainable your building is, or will be. The calculation behind this system is taking inspiration and certain features from the most popular green building certifications: LEED and BREEAM. By using the Smart-CRE green building calculator, you can create a very rough estimation of how the property would perform for the mentioned systems.
Categories that are considered for this rating are management and planning practices, design, energy and resource consumption, as well as innovation. A detailed explanation of this free tool can be found below.
We are constantly working on improving this tool in order to make it more accurate and easy to use. If you have any suggestions, please let us know through our contact form.
How To Use The Green Building Calculator
The Green Building Calculator leads you through the process of rating your building step-by-step. It starts with the type of building and then continues with the individual categories of green building performance.
What Does The Score Mean?
Compared to LEED or BREEAM, there is no minimum score to meet. As this calculator only focuses on green building technologies and solutions, even a low score can mean that a property is sustainable.
Certain categories such as energy, design, or health and wellbeing, have a higher importance than others. Thus, these bring more points to the final score. These weights have been partially adapted from other certification systems to represent an accurate calculation.
To learn more about the green building certifications LEED and BREEAM, feel free to take a look at our blog.
Type Of Building
First, you will be asked about the type of building used for the calculation. This is important as different buildings have different priorities for sustainable performance.
The Different Categories
There are eight different categories of questions in the Green Building Calculator. The first one is about sustainable planning practices, the second one is about green building materials, and the third one is about design concepts that passively make the property more efficient.
The following categories of the green building calculator are about sustainable usage of resources. This includes energy, water, and waste. Another important factor is the health and well-being of tenants or employees. Lastly, points can be gained by using very innovative solutions or technologies. Similar points can also be found in LEED and BREEAM.
Green Building FAQ
A “green building” or “sustainable building” is a type of real estate that utilizes sustainable technologies and design concepts to improve its performance. It has the aim of reducing resource and energy consumption, while at the same time improving the comfort for its tenants.
This sustainable performance consists of three pillars: environment, society, and economy. Therefore it is important to consider each of these categories when planning a green building.
Green buildings come with a number of advantages for various stakeholders:
- Reduced Energy Consumption
- Reduced Operating Costs
- Sustainable Usage of Resources
- Reduced CO2 Emission
- Increased Productivity of Tenants
- Improved Quality of Living
While these buildings can provide many benefits, there are a few disadvantages that should not be left out:
- Initial Investment
- Identifying the Right Technology for Individual Buildings
- Finding Green Materials
- Finding People with Expertise
- Success Depends on the Location
Even though there is a significant initial investment, green buildings can indeed provide a positive return on investment in a relatively short amount of time.
In recent times, many new buildings aim to achieve high sustainable performance. Some of the most sustainable buildings in the world include the Shanghai Tower and the Bank of America Tower.
