Comparative Analysis of Green Building Rating Systems for Performance-Based Contracting in Southeast Asian Data Centres

Green Building Rating Systems (GBRSs) are widely used to promote and guide sustainable development across the built environment. However, a significant gap remains between certification achievement and actual operational performance, limiting the ability of existing GBRSs to support Performance-Based Contracts (PBCs), particularly in the rapidly growing and energy-intensive data centre sector. This gap underscores the need for PBCs, which rely on measurable and verifiable performance outcomes. This study evaluates the potential of GBRSs to support PBC implementation in Southeast Asian data centres through a comparative content analysis of seven certification frameworks: LEED, EDGE, Green Building Index (GBI), GreenRE, MCMC MTSFB TC G004:2024, Greenship Data Center, and BCA-IMDA Green Mark. The analysis compares certification criteria, scoring methodologies, assessment categories, and their compatibility with PBC requirements, including measurable indicators, performance verification, monitoring capability, and contractual enforceability. The findings show that energy efficiency is the dominant assessment category across all frameworks, with Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) emerging as the most widely adopted performance metric. Nevertheless, substantial differences in scoring structures, category weightings, and performance thresholds limit regional harmonisation and benchmarking. Among the seven frameworks analysed, MCMC MTSFB TC G004:2024 and BCA-IMDA Green Mark demonstrate the strongest alignment with PBC principles due to their explicit performance benchmarks and structured evaluation mechanisms. Overall, the findings demonstrate that GBRSs have the potential to evolve from compliance-based certification tools into performance-orientated frameworks capable of supporting PBCs and advancing low-carbon, net-zero data centre development.