Patrick Nossent is the President of Certivéa and is based in Paris, France. He is also President of CEQUAMI (Certification Qualité en Maisons Individuelles).
Construction Magazine: What does Certivéa do?
Patrick Nossent: Certivéa, a subsidiary of the French public institution CSTB (Centre Scientifique et Technique du Bâtiment), is today considered a real partner for change for the players in the construction sector.
As a leading international certification body, Certivéa is an independent organisation offering third party certification for sustainable commercial buildings and sustainable construction players to an international market.
Certification is our main activity but in addition to that, our primary mission stays to promote improvement for all stakeholders, from the perspective of sustainable development.
CM: What is the advantage of an HQE Certification?
PN: The players in the real estate industry, regardless of their business activity area (developers, builders, project owners or property managers) are always eager to improve their expertise, to anticipate future developments and be recognized for their performance based on reliable criteria.
HQE certification process is recognized as a very efficient way to be acknowledged for their best practices in sustainable construction and operation of buildings.
Buildings certification enables access to privileged conditions such as specific funds, access to the best locations, etc. Moreover, giving proof of buildings certification is expected in non-financial rating systems and in mandatory reports.
CM: Do ‘green’ offices deliver on their promises?
PN: Certified buildings appear to have actual performance levels that are on average significantly higher than non-certified buildings, but in a number of cases, actual performance may be less than that forecasted.
Gaps between theoretical performance and actual performance may have several causes but mostly, intrinsic quality is not criticised.
CM: How does ‘green’ performance impact ‘green’ real estate value?
PN: HQE certification is recognized by experts and investors as one of the elements constituting ‘green value’.
The link between environmental performances and property value is likely, provided that the ‘green’ building respects these real estate fundamentals: take into account the quality of the location and keep the quality of the building use commensurate to demand.
CM: What recommendations can Certivéa give towards creating for sustainable buildings?
PN: We strongly support and recommend the development of HQE approach in order to help the entire real estate sector on the road to sustainability.
The HQE, both approach and certification process, rely on principles:
- • Objectives are defined by the project owner as part of their programme to improve the environmental quality of the building by reducing the impact of the building on its environment, as well as improving users’ health and comfort.
- • No architectural or technical solution is imposed: choices are made according to each context
This makes the particularity of HQE approach. Rather than prescribe predefined solutions, HQE approach invites the project developer to identify the needs, assess alternative solutions and chose the most suitable ones.
