Colliers: Green buildings gain better financing terms as sustainable lending becomes standard in Romania

Sustainability is becoming a key factor in real estate financing in Romania, with banks increasingly offering better lending terms for green buildings, according to a new study by real estate consultancy Colliers. The report found that energy performance and compliance with green finance criteria are now directly influencing access to financing and borrowing costs. The study, the first of its kind on the Romanian market, is based on responses from four commercial banks, representing more than half of the country's banking assets, and two multilateral development banks active in the real estate sector. According to Colliers, all six institutions require new buildings seeking green financing to have a primary energy demand at least 10% below the national Nearly Zero Energy Building (NZEB) standard. Projects that fail to meet the NZEB-10% threshold may still receive conventional financing but typically lose access to green finance benefits. “For new buildings, sustainability is no longer checked only at the end of the process but is integrated as a condition from the design stage. For banks, alignment with the EU Taxonomy and energy performance are no longer merely reporting exercises, but criteria that determine whether a project qualifies as green finance and under what conditions. Certifications such as LEED and BREEAM allow developers to clearly demonstrate a building’s performance and provide banks and investors with benchmarks that are easy to compare," said Oana Stamatin, ESG Chief Officer