Financing Transformation: a guide to green building for green bonds and green loans

This guide shows how sustainable building certifications such as BREEAM can help unlock finance to make existing buildings more sustainable.

Buildings account for over 30% of global energy use and more than a quarter of emissions. The International Energy Agency (IEA) has identified that the majority of existing buildings will still be standing in 2050, so large-scale capital investments will be needed to support sustainable retrofits and meet climate targets.

The last few years have seen increasing numbers of sustainable finance instruments, such as green loans and green bonds. However, they are failing to reach their full potential due to limited understanding and uptake. Financing Transformation is a guide designed to bridge the gap, improve interactions between the finance and real estate sectors and standardise green building practices in varied locations.

Integrating major building certification systems like BREEAM, Green Mark, Green Star, HQE, LEED and NABERS provides a practical and robust framework for unlocking sustainable finance, ensuring that progress towards a more sustainable built environment is underpinned by scientifically backed, trustworthy methodologies.

Key points

The guide reviews a comprehensive set of green building certifications commonly used by international investors, exploring their fundamental characteristics, and explaining their application in green bonds and loans.
It shows how building certification schemes such as BREEAM align with the goals of sustainable finance, detailing their role in enhancing transparency, accountability, and environmental performance.
The guide provides case studies of successful green finance projects, highlighting best practices and lessons learned to provide practical insights for stakeholders.
It shows how health and social outcomes can be integrated as critical investment metrics, moving beyond financial and environmental returns.

The guide was produced by an international alliance comprising BRE, the Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA), the Singapore Green Building Council (SGBC), the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), and Alliance HQE-GBC France.