A critical analysis of LEED, BREEAM and DGNB as sustainability assessment methods for retail buildings

(1) Background: Retail stores are among the building typologies with the highest consumption of natural resources. Hence, understanding how retail stores can integrate sustainability principles within a life cycle perspective and how Building Sustainability Assessment (BSA) methods can contribute for such is of great importance. Yet, studies comparing the applicability of BSA methods to retail buildings are missing, which is a gap in knowledge this study intends to address. (2) Methods: A state-of-the-art review was carried out regarding the most common BSA methods and their applicability to retail buildings. LEED, BREEAM and DGNB were chosen to be compared in terms of certification ranking, categories, indicators, weights, and usage-specific guidelines for retail buildings. (3) Results: In general, LEED and BREEAM are more focused on the environmental aspects of sustainability (namely in energy) while DGNB integrates the environmental, social, and economic dimensions equally. DGNB is the most adapted method for retail buildings, providing performance metrics for retail buildings, namely regarding operational costs and energy demand values. (4) Conclusions: While DGNB is the most robust BSA method for retail buildings, more attention could be given to performance metrics such as water and energy consumption benchmarks, carbon and material footprint, life cycle cost, or economic value to facilitate comparison amongst different methods. By identifying the strengths and weaknesses of each method, this study supports informed decision making when choosing a BSA method and informs the development of regional BSA methods for retail buildings, considering the limitations of existing tools.