USGBC releases guide on leveraging LEED as a catalyst for sustainable finance

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) released a guide on how green rating systems can accelerate sustainable finance by increasing confidence in performance outcomes while lowering transaction costs.

“Green Building & Sustainable Finance: Accessing Capital to Accelerate Market Transformation” covers key concepts and strategies for investing in green buildings and how tools such as LEED and PERFORM, USGBC's portfolio-level verification program, can align expectations and validate actions for owners, investors, lenders, tenants, and regulators. The guide explores a two-sided value proposition, whereby finance is a catalyst for green building and green building is a solution for sustainable finance instruments.

Green building rating systems are used in a wide range of finance instruments, including mortgages, bonds, linked loans, and equity engagement. The guide showcases the breadth of these applications to make them accessible to a broader audience of professionals.

It provides finance practitioners with an overview of how green rating systems can be used as tools to create value, reduce risk, and obtain credible data to analyze green projects. It includes investment strategies that maximize ROI while supporting the adoption of green building standards and how green building programs such as LEED and PERFORM address priority impact areas.