A coffee with… Aurelio Ramirez Zardosa, President of the Spain Green Building Council (SpainGBC)

LIB: It has been more than 25 years since the SpainGBC, the first LEED council created in Spain and Europe (1998). As founder and president, what are the main challenges you have faced over the years?

Aurelio: Since our inception, we have reached several important milestones. The first LEED registered building in Europe and Spain was Metrovacesa’s ALVENTO Business Park in Madrid (2000), which obtained the first LEED certification in the region in 2006.

Some of our outstanding achievements, both in Spain and Europe, include:

• 2008: Palmas Altas Technology Centre, Seville, ABENGOA, 1st LEED-CS Platinum PreCertification. 2015 World Record, LEED-CSv2.0: Platinum.
• 2009: Floor 24 Torre Picasso, CBRE, 1st LEED-CI Gold interiors.
• 2012: Iberdrola Tower, Bilbao, 1st Double Platinum.
• 2015: Hotel Avenida Sofia, Sitges, MiM, 1st LEED-Platinum hotel.
• 2016: Residential S.Coop. Arroyo Bodonal, Tres Cantos, Madrid, 1st Residential LEED-Platinum.

During the real estate boom, few wanted to build LEED buildings because everything sold easily. After the 2008 crisis, the real demand for LEED buildings emerged, with 12 registrations that year. Differentiation and improvement of the real estate product became essential to compete. In 2016, we experienced a strong rebound with 244 registrations, although this did not immediately translate into certifications.

COVID-19 kept the number of certifications constant, which grew again in 2022 and 2023. Although the public, hotel, education and residential sectors have not widely adopted LEED, with 807 buildings, we are the country in Europe with the most certified buildings in the last five years, the second in Latin America and sixth worldwide for the last three years.

LIB: Focusing on logistics and industrial buildings, what is the implementation/penetration of LEED certification in Spain?

Aurelio: Until 2019, the logistics and industrial building sector had 40 LEED-certified buildings, placing it in third position behind the commercial-retail sector. In 2020, it climbed to second position with 61 buildings, surpassing the 47 in the commercial-retail sector. Growth has continued, and in 2023, 126 LEED-certified buildings were reached, of which 110 belong to the logistics sub-sector. This demonstrates the clear preponderance of logistics in the LEED industrial sector.

Leading companies such as MONTEPINO-VALFONDO, MERLIN and BUSINESS CENTER MANZANARES head the group of 53 logistics companies that are certifying the most LEED buildings. These companies use LEED because it balances maximising operating profit with reducing environmental impact and improving occupant well-being. By increasing the value of their buildings as assets, they increase the value of their real estate portfolios and thus the annual return to shareholders.

Reduced environmental impacts are quantified and used as positive marketing, enhancing the reputation of companies in media sensitive to these issues. In addition, increased occupant wellbeing translates into significant productivity gains, far exceeding the operational savings achieved by LEED in buildings.

LIB: The LEED sustainable building certification system classifies buildings according to their degree of excellence based on 8 categories. What are these criteria and which of them is currently the most critical in industrial/logistics buildings in Spain?

Aurelio: In order to achieve LEED certification, buildings must meet 11 mandatory prerequisites distributed in these categories, adding up to a maximum of 110 points of voluntary credits. The certification levels are: CERTIFIED (40), SILVER (50), GOLD (60) and PLATINUM (80).

The categories are:

1. Integrative Process (IP): (Prerequisites: 0, Credits: 1)
2. Localisation and Transport (LT): (P: 0, C: 16)
3. Sustainable Plots (SS): (P: 1, C: 10)
4. Water Efficiency (WE): (P: 3, Q: 11)
5. Energy and Atmosphere (EA): (P: 4, S: 33)
6. Materials and Resources (MR): (P: 1, S: 13)
7. Indoor Environmental Quality (EQ): (P: 2, S: 16)
8. Innovation (IN): (P: 0, Q: 6)
9. Regional Priority (RP): (P: 0, C: 4)

In the industrial-logistics sector in Spain, the most critical criterion is Energy and Atmosphere (EA) due to the large amount of energy consumed by logistics centres. Improving energy efficiency not only reduces operating costs, but also reduces the environmental impact, making them more sustainable.

Buildings in green buildings must follow specific criteria to be certified in the W&DC (Warehouse and Distribution Centre) typology. LEED is based on meeting international industry standards and criteria thresholds, not governmental standards. Buildings already in operation can obtain LEED O+M (Operation and Maintenance) and/or LEED ID+C (Interiors) certification.

The most challenging credits are those for Materials and Resources, especially those related to Life Cycle Analysis and Environmental Product Declarations, as they are theoretical and difficult for many manufacturers to meet.