Sustainable building certificates and their impact on housing prices

In recent years, there has been increasing discussion about the need to protect the environment and implement eco-friendly solutions. This is no longer just a matter of trends or fear of ongoing climate change, but also of EU regulations, specifically the European Green Deal, launched in 2019, and the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), adopted at the end of 2022. This directive obliges companies to report on ESG factors – environmental (E), social (S), and governance (G) criteria, used to assess a company’s impact on the environment, society and corporate governance, enabling the identification of risks and opportunities associated with business activity.

For companies in the construction sector, meeting environmental criteria has become crucial. In addition to complying with EU standards, it contributes to the prestige of an investment. On project websites, one can often find sections dedicated to the environment, where developers highlight the energy efficiency of buildings and environmentally respectful construction as advantages. In some cases, developers showcase their sustainable building certification as evidence of eco-friendly practices and compliance with ESG criteria. Sustainable building certifications are of global nature, meaning that each type of certification features a uniform classification of buildings worldwide.

The most popular certification system in Poland is BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method), a system originating from the United Kingdom. The BREEAM assessment includes ten categories: management, health and wellbeing, energy, transport, water, materials, waste, land use and ecology, pollution, and innovation. The level of compliance is indicated by certification ratings. There are five levels, and residential buildings in Poland have been awarded certificates at four of them, from the lowest: Pass, Good, Very Good, Excellent.

According to the database of certified buildings maintained by the Polish Green Building Council (PLGBC), the majority of residential projects with sustainable building certification are located in Warsaw. It is therefore worthwhile to focus on investments in the capital. For the purposes of this publication, average apartment prices were compared by BREEAM certification level, as well as average prices for BREEAM – certified investments versus those without certification. The pricing data is based on the price per square meter from primary market sales agreements, collected in the AMRON System. To ensure the results are reliable, only investments located in the same district and completed in the same year were compared.

Investments certified at the Pass and Good levels completed in 2024 in the Praga – Południe district were analysed, as well as investments certified at the Good and Very Good levels completed in 2021 in Mokotów. In Praga – Południe, the average price for Pass – certified investments was approximately PLN 12 800, while for Good – certified investments it was around PLN 14 000 – nearly 10% higher. In Mokotów, the average price for Good – certified investments was approximately PLN 14 000, while for Very Good – certified projects, it was slightly, i.e. by approx. PLN 200 lower.. However, when the analysis was narrowed to projects by a single developer, the average price for Very Good – certified investments turned out to be slightly higher, i.e. by approx. PLN 100.

The analysis also included certified and non – certified investments completed in 2021 in Mokotów. The average price for certified investments was about PLN 14 000, while for non – certified projects it was approximately PLN 10 800, which was less by over 20%.

The conducted calculations show that the level of certification can have a significant impact on apartment prices, though not necessarily in every case. It is possible that only projects with the lowest certification level lose value, while the others may maintain similar values regardless of certification level. It is also possible that investors assess the impact of certification level on investment value differently. However, simply holding a sustainable building certificate is likely one of the main reasons for increasing market value, which was probably also the case of the 2021 investments in Mokotów. This trend is not surprising, considering the cost of obtaining such a certificate, which can range from several thousand to several tens of thousands of zlotys. Furthermore, the use of energy-efficient solutions in certified buildings contributes to lower operating costs for residents, which undoubtedly encourage developers to raise sale prices for apartments in “green buildings.”

Mateusz Palczewski
Junior Specialist, GIS Analyst