We can no longer do without certified sustainability - Interview with Markus Werner

MeteoViva is the first company whose product MeteoViva Climate has been officially recognized by the German Sustainable Building Council (DGNB) as a service for the "DGNB Building in Operation" certification system in the 2020 version. MeteoViva founder and advisory board member Markus Werner on the reasons and new challenges for the industry.

What specifically does the label "DGNB recognized service" do?
Due to the DGNB recognition, the use of MeteoViva Climate in a building is automatically linked to a guaranteed degree of fulfillment for the "Building in Operation" certification - regardless of the concrete project characteristics. MeteoViva Climate covers fixed indicators for seven of the nine defined criteria, including "climate protection and energy" and "indoor comfort".

Why did you go for this label?
It was basically a very logical and consistent step. MeteoViva Climate has been optimizing the operation of buildings and providing evidence of its impact since 2007. Our smart data solution basically serves all the elements of sustainability: environmental, social and economic. It ensures that the indoor climate quality is permanently high and that energy costs and CO2 emissions are reduced. The DGNB has now made this official with its recognition. And all our customers and partners will now benefit from this when they apply for certification.

In what way?
Simply because they use MeteoViva Climate, they now already fulfill so many points that they automatically receive a bronze certificate. Depending on the equipment of their object, they can then further increase the result.

This refers to aspects of content. Are there other advantages?
Yes. The entire documentation effort and thus also the costs are reduced. In the case of a new certification, it is no longer necessary to check all criteria and indicators individually. And via the cockpit of MeteoViva Climate, our customers can later generate the data for the annual recertification of sustainable real estate quasi at the push of a button.

How important is certified sustainability in the real estate industry?
It will no longer be possible without it. Politicians at all levels are currently pushing the verifiability and measurability of sustainability measures. This is demonstrated, among other things, by the EU Taxonomy Regulation and the recent tightening of the Climate Protection Act. It is to be expected that property owners will be sanctioned in the future if they cannot comply with reductions. The DGNB certification process captures and documents methods and data that can be used to meet the requirements of these new European regulations and national laws.

Overall, the DGNB system is only one possible certification program. How can you further increase the impact of MeteoViva Climate as an essential climate protection building block in the interest of your customers?
We have deliberately focused initially on the DGNB certificate "Buildings in Operation". It is one of the few certification systems that have a clear focus on a holistic approach. It is therefore a very good basis for expansion. Based on this, we are now looking at international certification systems such as LEED, BREEAM and GRESB in a next step.

Climate neutrality is currently one of the central social and political goals. Are we talking primari-ly about energy efficiency in the real estate industry?
Reducing energy consumption is an essential step. But energy-efficient operation of buildings alone will not make us climate neutral. In 2020, nature gave us the power for 46 percent of the electrical energy consumed this year - and the trend is rising. The real estate industry needs to focus even more on renewable energy sources.

And that poses new challenges for the real estate industry.
Right. In addition to optimization based on indoor climate and CO2 emissions, variable energy prices, avoidance of power peaks and a stable supply will become increasingly important in the real estate industry. Here, we are already running successful pilot projects with the goal that energy suppliers, property owners and MeteoViva work together as a team to create the basis for an energy turnaround.