The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has released a new guide that highlights the symbiotic relationship between green building and sustainable finance.
The guide, titled “Green Building & Sustainable Finance: Accessing Capital to Accelerate Market Transformation,” explains how green building rating systems like LEED can serve as a catalyst for sustainable finance. It achieves this by providing a clear framework for performance, reducing risk, and lowering transaction costs. This makes green projects more attractive to investors, lenders, and other financial stakeholders.
Key takeaways from the guide:
For Finance Professionals: The guide provides an overview of how green rating systems can be used as tools to create value, reduce risk, and obtain credible data to analyze green projects. It also includes strategies to maximize return on investment while supporting green building standards.
For Green Building Practitioners: The guide helps green building professionals understand various financing options and how to make their projects more attractive to financial institutions.
Wide Range of Applications: The guide showcases how green building rating systems are being applied across a broad spectrum of financial instruments, including mortgages, bonds, and loans.
A two-sided value proposition:
The guide explores a dual-benefit model where finance fuels green building, and in return, green building provides a reliable solution for sustainable finance instruments.
According to Sarah Zaleski, Chief Products Officer, USGBC, sustainable finance is more than just capital—it’s about creating meaningful change. By directing capital towards green building, it becomes both a catalyst for innovation and a system of accountability that benefits both the planet and investors.
The USGBC is actively working to bridge the gap between corporate climate goals and the financial viability of achieving them, which is critical for decarbonizing the built environment, a sector responsible for nearly 40% of all carbon emissions.
It must be noted that the guide is part of USGBC’s ongoing leadership in this area, which includes the recent appointment of Aidee Olmos as its principal of sustainable finance to strengthen global engagement with the financial sector.
