Habitech

Sustainability Due Diligence

Habitech was the first company to introduce the Sustainability Due Diligence in Italy, as a complementary service in the field of Technical, Real Estate and Environmental Due Diligence.

The Sustainability Due Diligence is a specialized independent evaluation service, conducted by a third party, which implies the analysis of the conditions of an asset (a single property or a real estate asset) subject to a wider technical evaluation.

This service aims to assess the characteristics of the building in terms of sustainability, to identify the weaknesses and strengths, to define the certification potential with one of the internationally recognized environmental sustainability systems, with the ultimate goal to define a benchmark or to analyse potential alternatives.

The outcome highlights any risks or opportunities that may concern an initiative in terms of sustainability, allowing the stakeholders to estimate and plan future costs for management, maintenance, certification and more. This work aims to provide the customer with a definition of the priority activities to be implemented, according to his purposes, alongside with technical assessments to meet specific requirements.

It is a service that allows, for an asset already in portfolio or under acquisition, this service allows to answer the following questions:

  • Can it be certified according to an international sustainability standard such as LEED, BREEAM or WELL? With what interventions? With what costs? With what time of return?
  • Is it future proof? Is it in line with the performance of the EU directives regarding NZEB - Net Zero Energy Building?
  • Are the actual consumption in accordance with expected ones?
  • Do the systems work at their best efficiency?
  • Are user behaviors virtuous?
  • What impact could climate change and extreme weather events have? Was it designed according to the principles of resilience?

In all these cases, the activities consist in the collection and analysis of the information of the asset, in dedicated site visits and analysis of environmental and energy impact, in order to evaluate the asset according to the principles of the life cycle (LCA) and the cost of the life cycle (LCC). The activity is carried out by a third party with respect to the Client and other stakeholder. 

The following documentation is generally required:

  • Architectural and systems schemes, regulatory or as-built documentation;
  • Building and systems user manual;
  • Materials and price list of activities divided by discipline;
  • Final Tests Report;
  • Management policies, pilotage documents, tenant guidelines;
  • Information on occupant use.

At the end of the activities, a report is delivered to the Client, containing a summary of the assessments, the suggested improvement measures and their priority of action.