Institutional portal - Municipality of Milan

Recognition from GBCI, the main international organization that evaluates excellence in construction sector performance and practices globally. Maran: “Further incentive to always do better even with new PGT rules”

Milan, November 27 2019 - Milan is one of the top five cities in Europe, together with Madrid, Stockholm, Frankfurt and Istanbul, for the number of sustainable buildings designed, built and managed according to the international LEED standard. The recognition arrived today from Green Business Certification Inc. (GBCI), an organization that recognizes excellence in performance and practices in the green business sector globally.

LEED, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is the most used green building rating system in the world created by the U.S. association Green Building Council (USGBC) is widespread in 172 countries. Milan currently boasts over 80 LEED certified buildings which are helping to reduce carbon emissions and providing healthier environments for the people who live and work there. Added to these are another 130 projects, currently under development in the city, which plan to pursue the same objective.

“The urban development of cities, in a historical phase in which everyone's commitment is essential to respond to major climate issues, can no longer ignore the quality of buildings in terms of sustainability – declares the councilor for Urban Planning Pierfrancesco Maran -. The GBCI recognition is therefore just a further incentive to do more and better. The Territorial Government Plan recently approved in Milan, in this sense, introduces the obligation for new buildings to be carbon natural. Right at the Greco airport, in a few years we will have the first social housing district in Italy with totally zero C02 emissions".

“The way we design our buildings, cities and communities impacts the quality of our lives and the quality of life for generations to come,” said Mahesh Ramanujam, president and CEO of GBCI and USGBC. “The City of Milan with LEED certification is an example and a model not only for Italy, but for the rest of Europe, and demonstrates that sustainable and high-performance buildings are within our reach. By engaging in practices that reduce our impact on the environment and by prioritizing our health, we can create a better standard of living for every person."

The LEED system can be applied to any building and interior space and provides a framework for the design, construction and operation of environmentally friendly and healthy structures that are highly efficient and cost-effective. The certification is a symbol of excellence and indicates, with third-party validation recognized by the international market, that a building has achieved high levels of energy-environmental sustainability, protecting the quality of life and health of people.

According to GBCI's motivations “In Milan, ecological buildings are a fundamental solution to reverse the impact of the sector in terms of carbon emissions. From hotels and offices to schools and apartments, Milan's work with LEED sets an example for Europe and demonstrates that better buildings can create a better quality of life."