The built environment – and the way we interact with it – has changed significantly over the past two decades. Where the mid-2000s were defined by a commercial real estate boom with office buildings at its center, the 2020s have seen major advancements in both the quantity and scale of data centers globally. These represent profoundly different real estate asset classes – from how they are valued to how they operate.

Where commercial real estate is typically evaluated on location and square footage, data centers are assessed in terms of megawatt capacity and power availability. The value of most commercial real estate is widely accepted, while data centers remain largely misunderstood and can be very resource-intensive.

These are just a few examples of how demand for certain asset classes is reshaping the built environment. As more hybrid asset classes like data centers that combine key elements of real estate, infrastructure, and specialized technology emerge, third-party certification systems guide the delivery of sustainable, healthy, and resilient buildings, while ensuring accountability to stakeholders.

Vicki Worden, CEO of Green Building Initiative (GBI), is focused on improving the built environment’s impact on climate and society:

“Change is the only constant, but sustainability certification has been the key connector for corporations and for real estate investment trusts (REITs), enabling corporate priorities to be translated to the asset level, with a third party providing a credible evaluation of how those priorities are evolving.”

The next generation of real estate

Representing today’s international critical infrastructure, data centers have become the cornerstone of digital transformation globally. The stakes are higher than ever, making these investments exceptionally valuable and the sustainability of these sites a top priority for operators and investors alike. Rather than borrowing ideas and ideals from the commercial real estate sector, data centers should be recognized and treated as an asset class in their own right.

With traditional Tier 1 data center markets becoming increasingly saturated, owners and developers are branching into previously underutilized, underestimated, and underserved regions. There are often reasons why these locations remained relatively untapped for digital infrastructure, typically pertaining to challenging climates, hybridized building types, and political nuances.

Third-party sustainability certification requirements have become increasingly embedded in design and operation for data center owners and developers. This ensures consistency and a clear commitment to efficiency and environmental impact. A key benefit of GBI’s approach lies in its time- and cost-effectiveness, as Worden explains:

“GBI’s Green Globes and Ascent building certifications are designed to be rolled out at scale across the portfolio. Where owners might have a number of fairly similar facilities – whether on the same campus or across different regions – or where the same corporate policies apply across multiple assets, we can help replicate those guidelines. We save considerable time by customizing individual questionnaires for each asset based on what may differ regionally.”

By tailoring certification through a robust process that incorporates flexibility features, including non-applicable criteria, and empowering each team to focus on requirements specific to their asset, a standard can be established that is as relevant to data centers as it is to other asset classes.

Why certify

Today, the goals of chief financial officers (CFOs) are coinciding with those of chief sustainability officers (CSOs) and chief engineers. The intersection of these objectives is to meet the stakeholder demands, who are focused on socially responsible, risk-averse corporations.

Third-party certification is a direct way to demonstrate accountability and comprehensively evaluates the building and site, including accounting for climate resilience and regulatory risk. All of this reinforces cost effectiveness, while positioning the opportunity as a more secure, lower-risk investment – naturally a key area of interest for investors.

The involuntary policy and regulatory environment is also increasingly influencing the requirements of data centers to look at certification processes.

“Sustainable building certifications like Green Globes and Ascent are being written into policy and actually helping to get data center projects green-lit,” says Worden, adding:

“Sustainability certification is being tied in with the community’s conversation with data center owners, ensuring that communities have an unbiased force making sure their priorities are being addressed – not only by corporate conversations in the boardroom, but translating down at the community level with each asset that gets certified.”

By becoming third-party certified, data center owners and developers can benefit from the collaboration of leaders in the sustainability and data center rollout, as Worden emphasizes:

“They are able to attest to all stakeholders that they are indeed meeting the objectives that they set out to meet and deliver the asset and community level.”

Science-based for simplicity

As data centers are increasingly recognized as critical digital infrastructure – and as public concern about their local impact grows – the regulatory environment is beginning to catch up with broader real estate expectations for standards.

This has led to a somewhat overcrowded, unstructured, and still incomplete set of best practices across the industry. Data center owners and operators frequently cite frustrations with confusing guidance and inconsistent expectations across sites, particularly where regional nuances and varying levels of technological maturity come into play.

What is needed is a pragmatic approach – one that engages collaborative partnerships across the industry, particularly with regulatory bodies and policymakers who shape key frameworks as they are written, updated, and adapted.

Green Globes and Ascent certifications respond to these challenges by focusing on the priorities and capabilities of data centers as a complete asset class. The result is a set of standards grounded in the best available science and research. Worden explains:

“We develop our standards using a consensus process, which both Green Globes and Ascent reflect. As new research and technologies become available in the market – which in the data center industry can feel like is happening on a minute-by-minute basis – they are incorporated into our standards. We put a very high focus on making sure that the science, research, and technologies referenced are regularly updated.”

Drawing on more than 20 years of green building expertise, GBI has continuously monitored the global regulatory landscape and aligned its certification processes to regional requirements.

“Unlike other certifications that have been in the market for some time, we’ve delivered GBI’s Ascent building certification in a way that reflects all of the latest changes in this highly regulated environment,” says Worden.

Holistic criteria that tick all the boxes

By holistically covering sustainability, occupant health and wellness, and resilience, Green Globes and Ascent certifications provide a clear roadmap – supporting corporate decarbonization efforts, and energy efficiency and emissions targets, even as power density requirements continue to evolve with the growth of AI.

Ascent certification (used in companies outside the US and Canada) is tailored to ESG reporting and ISO requirements, while also reflecting the specific needs of data centers across the region.

Where Green Globes and Ascent differ from other certification systems is in their 1000-point framework. As Worden explains, this enables a broader cross-section of issues to be addressed, with weightings that reflect the varying impact of different initiatives:

“We’re one of the only systems that has a weighted set of criteria, and we’re also one of the only systems that leverages non-applicable criteria, so that when you are applying our standards to your asset type, you can determine what is relevant based on those non-applicables – what truly pertains to your building.

“High energy efficiency, for example, may be weighted far more heavily than a general best practice. This helps avoid ‘point chasing’ in systems where everything is weighted equally.”

By incorporating non-applicable criteria, Green Globes and Ascent ensure buildings are not penalized for factors that do not apply to their specific type, location, or project scope. This approach allows operators to stay focused on building function and occupant needs, avoiding unnecessary time and expense on irrelevant measures. At the same time, it helps ensure that today’s investments and initiatives remain meaningful and are not lost amid the rapidly changing expectations for sustainable buildings.

This approach supports both new and existing facilities at any stage of the building lifecycle. The process is collaborative and designed to run alongside a team’s existing workflows, complementing them with informed decision-making rather than disruption.

“Our system is designed to be as self-explanatory as possible, so organizations don’t need to rely heavily on external consultants or specialists to navigate certification – that’s what we’re here for,” says Worden.

Health and wellbeing

Furthermore, while sustainability and resilience are relatively well-documented within sustainable building certification, health and wellness may not be as heavily emphasized. When business priorities focus first on infrastructure efficiency and resilience, community needs are often considered too late, after key decisions have been made and opportunities for meaningful input are limited.

Green Globes and Ascent address health and wellness through two internal factors that look at the impact on employees and daily building users, and the effects on those who are neighbors of the building or within the community.

Internal factors look at everything from ventilation and performance-based metrics to prescriptive things like carbon monoxide detector locations – ensuring correct protection is in place for building users. Externally, these standards address things like emissions, landscaping for aesthetic purposes, and light and noise pollution, which are prominent issues for data center neighbors.

By encouraging health and wellness strategies within the broader building certification process, Green Globes and Ascent bring this aspect of sustainability to the forefront, making it a top priority as opposed to a last-minute adjustment with potentially costly retrofits.

Cause and effect

The data center as an asset class offers a clear example of GBI’s impact. The collaborative nature of third-party certification programs like Green Globes and Ascent means that data center owners and operators are increasingly turning to organizations like GBI for support within a complex and evolving asset class landscape.

“We always say that we’ve been making the green building pie bigger. We’re able to introduce it in such a way that makes certification attainable and accessible to everyone,” says Worden.

Collectively, GBI has certified more than one billion square feet of commercial real estate across 13 countries worldwide. The organization is experiencing its fastest growth in the data center sector, driven by the critical role sustainability plays in conversations within the host communities.

“We aim to be a resource and thought leader for policymakers and regulatory bodies on best practices in sustainable building performance. That may mean providing model legislation, providing education, or offering access to expertise. We also have a vast network of data center specialists recognized for their leadership on sustainability issues.”

This approach is further reflected in GBI’s recent engagement with the US Congress, where it was invited to brief members and their staff on data centers. In response, GBI convened a panel of experts to provide insight into sustainability challenges and opportunities, including return on investment, procurement, power sourcing, renewable energy, and how to deliver high-performing data centers for communities.

As the regulatory landscape continues to evolve, GBI is prioritizing the expertise needed to ensure its roadmaps and standards remain current, equipping owners with the right information at the right time. Worden illustrates her vision:

“I like to picture a future where voluntary drivers continue to be the number one factor behind building certifications. Investors, employees, and building owners continue to see return on investment as their number one reason for certifying, making programs like Green Globes and Ascent their top choice for certifying sustainable buildings.”

To explore certification options, please visit thegbi.org.