LEED for Cities and Communities is a rating system that helps local leaders create responsible, sustainable and specific plans for natural systems, energy, water, waste, transportation and many other factors that contribute to quality of life. The tool allows cities and communities to select the focus areas of most import to their local stakeholders through credits and points while setting a baseline through prerequisites. There are two different options available for new cities and community projects in the planning and design phase and for existing places. A recertification option is available.

LEED for Buildings offers four different rating systems that support building sustainability throughout the life cycle: LEED for Building Design and Construction (LEED BD+C) that can be used for new buildings, LEED for Interior Design and Construction (LEED ID+C) for interior spaces, LEED for Operations, Maintenance (LEED O+M) for existing buildings and LEED Homes for residential buildings of up to six stories. The tools help decision makers and stakeholders to create responsible and sustainable buildings and continuously improve buildings’ performance. Recertification options are available.

The Hydropower Sustainability Guidelines on Good International Industry Practice (HGIIP) point out how sustainability performance for the hydropower sector should be defined and measured across a range of environmental, social, technical and governance topics. The guidelines present definitions of the processes and outcomes relating to good practice in the planning, operation and implementation of hydropower projects. As a compendium, the guidelines are a reference document for meeting the expectations of lenders, regulators, and consumers. The guidelines are complementary with the Hydropower Sustainability Assessment Tool.

Green Star Buildings is Australia’s leading rating tool for new buildings and major refurbishments. Green Star Buildings sets out the criteria that must be met to deliver healthy, resilient, and positive places for people and nature. It aims to meet current and future demands on the built environment with aspirational benchmarks for addressing the key issues of the next decade: Climate action, resource efficiency, and health and wellbeing. The tool now includes different manuals that previously certified the construction and design (Green Star Design & As Built) as well as the operational performance of buildings (Green Star Performance).

The Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment (GRIHA) is India’s national framework for the assessment of environmental impacts of built environments with an individual version applying to new buildings and one for existing buildings (both starting at 2,500 sqm built-up area). For both versions, the net impact of buildings on quantitative and qualitative parameters is totaled and compared against a rating table, resulting in a sustainability certification. Thereby, the tool aims to support the reduction of detrimental impacts of buildings.

The Green Infrastructure Flexible Model (GIFMod) is an open-source computer-based modelling tool to evaluate the performance of urban stormwater and agricultural green infrastructure practices that aim to reduce the volume of stormwater runoff entering sewers or receiving streams and to improve water quality. GIFMod allows users to build conceptual models of green infrastructure practices to predict their hydraulic and water quality performance under given weather scenarios. It also allows for interpreting field and lab data via deterministic and probabilistic inverse modelling.

The Green Building Index (GBI) is Malaysia’s recognized green rating system to promote sustainability in the built environment and raise awareness about environmental issues and responsibility to the future generations. The tool provides an opportunity for project developers and owners to improve green design and construction. The GBI assessment for buildings evaluates the environmental design and performance of buildings. The evaluation process consists of a Planning Assessment, a Final Planning Assessment, resulting in a pre-certification, and a Completion & Verification Assessment, resulting in a final certification. To maintain the certification, reassessments are required every three years.

The Global Sustainability Assessment System (GSAS) is a performance-based system developed for rating green buildings and infrastructures. The primary objective of GSAS is to create a sustainable built environment that minimizes ecological impacts and reduces resource use, considering the specific needs and context of the Middle East and North Africa regions (MENA). The purpose of GSAS Design & Build Parks Scheme is to provide recommendations and guidance for the effective implementation of sustainability goals within park projects.

EDGE is a tool to estimate the resource use of buildings already during the planning phase and awards projects that save resources. The cloud-based platform has a sophisticated set of city-based climate and cost data, consumption patterns and algorithms for predicting the most accurate performance results. On this basis, the tool calculates additional costs to build green and how long it takes to earn back the money through operational savings. With EDGE, the IFC aims to deliver a solution to prove the business case for building green and unlock financial investment. Based on the performance, buildings can receive a certification.

The DGNB System for Buildings is a planning and optimization tool for sustainable buildings. The tool evaluates the environmental, economic, sociocultural / functional, technical and process quality of projects. There are different types of certifications available across the life cycle of buildings: (1) DNGB pre-certification for new constructions, (2) DNGB certificate for new constructions, (3) DNGB certificate for buildings in use (plus a recertification option), (4) DNBG certificate for existing buildings, (5) DNGB certificate for renovated buildings and (6) DNGB certificate for dismantling. Assessments are undertaken by independent, DNGB-trained auditors. DNGB undertakes a final conformity check before the certification is awarded.