The new EU Taxonomy goals include directing investments towards sustainable projects and activities, navigating the transaction to a low-carbon, resilient, and resource-efficient economy, providing certifications for investors and preventing greenwashing.
The concept of sustainable financing means companies must take ESG considerations into account when making investment decisions in the financial sector, leading to an economy that is more sustainable in the long term.
This year will see the first Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive reports. This requires companies to report their sustainability impacts, risks, and opportunities, including their alignment with EU taxonomy. From an assurance perspective, the CSRD requires that the sustainability statements of reporting businesses, including their taxonomy reporting, be verified by an independent auditor.
In the commercial real estate industry, the U.K.-based Breeam is clearly the most popular third-party office sustainability accreditation option, followed by the U.S.-based Leed. Concerning interiors, office management and design issues, Well and Access4You are increasingly utilized. Reflecting the growing concern with ESG-related issues, more building owners strive to improve standing assets by opting for “in-use” accreditations.
“Sustainability certifications have been with us for over 30 years and continue to evolve. Developing a certification system that makes projects comparable on a global level and sets a common standard for every building is challenging,” comments Norbert Szircsák, head of ESG Advisory Services at Colliers Hungary.
“However, I believe the current trend of placing more emphasis on embodied carbon, operational carbon emissions, and potential net-zero strategies is a positive direction. Additionally, while social factors have always been part of these certifications, they are now gaining more focus and addressing the most relevant issues,” he says.
“I think it is crucial for various stakeholders to better understand these certifications and demand the implementation of the most sustainable features,” Szircsák adds.
The International Well Building Institute has a framework to measure the inward and outward social impact of a company. Well at Scale members receive custom annual reports for ESG reporting and a Well Score for organization-wide performance benchmarking.
“According to the Well Building Standard, a successful office development takes 10 concepts into consideration: air and water quality, nourishment, light, movement, thermal comfort, sound, materials, mind and community,” says Regina Kurucz, director of the Well Working Group at the Hungarian Green Business Council.
“New offices have to be flexible and measurable. For example, regarding ventilation, offices not only have to be energy-efficient but also have to provide real-time data about indoor air quality to users,” she explains.
She says a new attitude to managing a building space is necessary. “Provide fresh air in areas where people are present and really need it, not in the whole (partly empty) building. This new concept requires presence sensors and adaptive ventilation solutions,” Kurucz says.
She says several hotels in Hungary are enrolled in Well certification, and Well Health and Safety Rating schemes, but the identities of these projects are kept private until the targets are achieved.
“Adapted from features in the Well Building Standard that focus on facilities maintenance and operations, the Well Health and Safety Rating is designed to guide and empower the actions of large and small businesses alike in taking the necessary steps to prioritize the health and safety of their staff, visitors and stakeholders for the long term,” the HuGBC expert says.
“It also serves as an annual process that supports efforts to promote the long-term health and safety of people. The Well for Residential program offers more than 100 strategies to create homes that prioritize resident health, comfort and well-being,” Kurucz notes.
“Designed to empower builders and developers, operators, architects and designers, and homeowners, the new health leadership framework is applicable to both single family homes and residences within multi-family buildings,” she concludes.
There will also be an increase in the provision of inclusive spaces in Budapest with interest in certified programs like Access4you and the Well Equity Rating. Inclusive spaces are seen as a better environment for everybody, for example, people with strollers or with reduced mobility, the elderly and people with neurodiversity.
The Academia Office building, managed by ConvergenCE, is the latest office center in Budapest to be awarded Access4you accreditation.
“Our mission is to create an inclusive built environment by offering detailed access information to people with disabilities and supporting business growth through inclusion,” says Acces4You. By June 2025, the European Accessibility Act (EAA) will become EU law.
Across all sectors, sustainability is no longer a differentiator but a necessity. Hungary’s alignment with EU taxonomy and ESG reporting requirements shapes investment decisions, tenant preferences, and regulatory frameworks. However, significant challenges remain, particularly in retrofitting existing assets and financing sustainability upgrades, comments Zsombor Barta, an ambassador for, and former president of, the HuGBC.
EY says it sees the EU Taxonomy as “the creation of a classification system to provide a common language and clear definition of what a sustainable economic activity is.”
The Big Four consultancy adds, “This regulation outlines the criteria for an economic activity to be deemed environmentally sustainable, providing companies, investors and policymakers with precise details to determine whether an act can be considered environmentally sustainable.”
EY concludes: “The disclosure of information shows how and to what extent the company’s activities are associated with economic activity goals as environmentally sustainable and aligned goals.”
This article was first published in the Budapest Business Journal print issue of January 24, 2025.
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