The real estate industry is facing ever-growing sustainability requirements that bring fundamental change in their wake. TÜV SÜD supplies a range of market players with an extensive portfolio of services that span the entire life cycle of properties. “If we are to successfully navigate the increasing regulatory pressure on our industry, we must address sustainability in an integrated and holistic manner and implement concrete measures”, says Joachim Birnthaler, CEO of the TÜV SÜD Real Estate & Infrastructure Division. “Our teams of experts provide impartial and independent support, which is aimed at guaranteeing energy-efficient and climate-friendly operation of properties and thus protecting and maintaining their value over the long term.”

Evaluation of sustainability in the real estate sector increasingly involves ESG criteria and sustainability assessments in line with international standards. TÜV SÜD supports real-estate market players by supplying ESG due diligence studies as well as audits and appraisals based on all leading national and international certification standards, including BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Methodology), DGNB (German Sustainable Building Council), BNB (Assessment System for Sustainable Building of the Federal German Ministry for Housing, Urban Development and Building) and LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design). In addition, TÜV SÜD is a licensee of BRE Global and a National Scheme Operator (NSO) with responsibility for aligning BREEAM systems to local standards and laws, training BREEAM experts and issuing BREEAM certificates in the DACH region.

Real estate decarbonisation can be mapped and classified by applying the CRREM (Carbon Risk Real Estate Monitor) pathway, for example. Here, TÜV SÜD provides the Green Building Calculator to enable users to gain an initial overview of the status of a property. The tool is free of charge and does not require users to register. The experts at TÜV SÜD then support their customers in developing appropriate measures for improving their carbon footprint, such as assistance in drawing up energy concepts, climate change roadmaps or decarbonisation action plans.

However, even the best concepts and plans are worthless if there are shortcomings in their implementation. In the Building Information Modeling (BIM) method, sustainability goals and targets for new builds or extensive revitalisation projects can be integrated into planning at an early stage and consistently implemented during construction. With appropriate standardisation and planning, BIM data can serve as the basis for end-to-end data management that spans not only the planning and construction phases of a building, but also its operation.

Ensuring quality, monitoring operation, reducing costs

TÜV SÜD also provides quality control services during construction and technical monitoring services, both of which likewise focus on guaranteeing the quality of construction execution and the correct functioning of technical building services. Technical monitoring, for example, enables the TIC company’s experts to detect existing malfunctions and potential areas of optimisation in building services systems and individual components, both prior to and during operation. In some systems, this may reveal potential savings of up to 30 per cent.

TÜV SÜD’s Digital Lift Management service optimises operating overheads and lift system availability. The new end-to-end IoT solution complements classic lift management schemes. It uses sensors to record all key operating data, provides information on lift usage patterns and makes highly accurate failure predictions for individual lift components. Predictive maintenance works can be planned and organised on this basis, resulting in reduced lift downtime. The Digital Lift Management scheme is optimised on an ongoing basis. This Expo Real will mark its debut in front of a wider audience.

More information on services provided by TÜV SÜD can be found at Expo Real (Hall C2, Stand 424) and on the Internet at www.tuvsud.com/en/buildings