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The environmental requirements for real properties continue to be stricter, and the focus on sustainability and ESG is growing among both politicians, investors, and in end users, which is leading to a growing interest in certified buildings such as the DGNB certificate.
A recent study on the Danish property marked shows a significant increase in certified properties regarding new construction. The last years, the number of DGNB certified buildings has been noticeably increasing.
According to the Council for Sustainable Construction (Rådet for Bæredygtigt Byggeri) the number of DGNB certified buildings has increased from 20 in 2017 to 256 in 2023, and already 194 in the first 8 months of 2024.
The increase is also seen at the municipal level, where a prognosis of Byggefakta shows that throughout Denmark a high and increasing percentages of the housing projects that investors and developers have either started or planned to start in 2024 to 2027 are currently reported to require a DGNB certificate:
Among the players in the Danish real estate market, private developers lead the way when it comes to certifications, compared to public developers and social housing developers. Statistics from Byggefakta and Bygherreforeningen show that 51 % of private development projects are attempting to get certification, with the number the public development projects being 46 %, and for social housing projects being only 32 %.
The development is in large part fueled by the increased awareness of the end users. Kuben and Exometric has recently carried out an analysis where they ask households in different regions of Denmark what impact sustainability has on their choice of housing. In the Capital Region of Denmark and Region Zealand, 5% of the asked households answer that sustainability has the highest priority. Respectively 36% in the Capital Region and 29% in Region Zealand answer that sustainability is very important, but other factors have higher priority. 38% and 39% answered that sustainability is less important than other factors, and respectively 20% and 26% answer that sustainability has no importance for their choice or choice by rejection of home.
According to Byggefakta and Bygherreforeningen shows that the number of certified building projects could be even higher, as a survey in 2024 highlights that some developers prioritize sustainable solutions that could qualify their projects for certification but choose not to apply for certification due to tightened legislation and burdensome procedures which makes the certification process too expensive.
In the Danish Real Estate M&A marked certification of the targeted asset has key focus- and negotiation point for our clients – Danish as well as international – both in relation to standing buildings where certification has a huge valuation impact and in terms of new build where the majority of the forward purchase and forward funding transactions that we have assisted require the properties to be certified by either the DGNB or BREEAM certification. A development which we anticipate will only increase.
If you have any questions related to ESG certified buildings, please do not hesitate to contact our team of real estate experts.