Publications and resources on sustainable architecture

BREEAM was established in the UK in 1990 and is the oldest rating system in the world. The system can assess buildings at different stages of their life cycle, from design and construction, through building operation, to refurbishment or fit-out. The certification assesses environmental performance, water and energy consumption, materials used, indoor environmental quality and user attributes necessary for an effective working environment. The system is widely used in the country, especially for office, industrial and residential buildings.

DGNB is a certification system that was established in 2009 in Germany. It is an international sustainability certification standard that aims to promote sustainability in the built environment by providing a systematic approach to sustainability assessment. There is currently one building in the Czech Republic certified using this system.

LEED, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is one of the world's most respected certification schemes for sustainable buildings. Launched in 1994, the scheme assesses a wide range of factors that affect the sustainability of buildings and have an impact on the environment, users and society as a whole. LEED á provides a structured framework for building owners and operators to identify and implement sustainable solutions during the design, construction, operation and management of buildings. In the country, this system is widely used, especially for the certification of office and industrial buildings.

Level(s) is a methodology developed by the European Commission for assessing and reporting on the sustainability of office and residential buildings.  Level(s) is not intended to provide a rating, but to give as accurate a picture of sustainability as possible based on the indicators monitored. It is not intended to replace traditional certification tools but to provide a common framework for assessment and reporting. The final version of the methodology was introduced in 2020 to support the wider EU climate strategy.

The Living Building Challenge (LBC) was introduced in the USA in 2006 and is one of the most stringent of its kind. To achieve full certification, buildings must produce more energy than they consume, capture and reuse rainwater, and be constructed with green materials. The main goal of this system is to create buildings that are able to function as "living organisms".There are no buildings in the Czech Republic certified under this system yet.

SBToolCZ is a Czech certification tool for expressing the quality level of buildings in accordance with the principles of sustainable construction. It is the Czech localization of the international SBTool system created by the International Initiative for Sustainable Built Environment. The advantage of the system is its connection to local climatic, building and legislative conditions. The tool has been on the Czech market since 2010. There are several dozen buildings in the Czech Republic certified by this methodology.

WELL certification was introduced in 2014 in the USA. WELL gives priority to the health and satisfaction of building occupants. The evaluation criteria are based on medical and scientific research into the impact of the indoor environment on human health and well-being. This certification is widely used as an extension to LEED and BREEAM certifications, which focus mainly on environmental criteria with less emphasis on occupant well-being and health.  Several buildings in the Czech Republic are certified under this system.