A financial paradigm shift
The private-equity secondary market has exceeded USD 160 billion globally. For real estate, this dynamic comes with a tightening of entry criteria: auditable ESG quality, SFDR article 8 or 9 alignment, EU Taxonomy compliance on the Do No Significant Harm (DNSH) principle. The absence of structured evidence becomes grounds for exclusion from institutional mandates.
In this context, an asset's value can no longer be read solely from its energy certificate or construction label. It is read from the manager's ability to document, at a given date, the asset's environmental performance, its dependencies on ecosystem services, and its physical and regulatory transition risks.
The limit of declarative labels
Construction certifications (HQE, BREEAM, NF Habitat HQE) remain useful for building quality, but are not enough for an SFDR article 9 fund that requires information verified by an independent third party. A self-declared biodiversity score, or one produced by an actor who also participates in designing the project, structurally raises an independence problem.
The criteria sought by evergreen funds and secondary managers converge on three requirements:
- Independence of the body producing the attestation (separation of design / certification functions)
- ISO/IEC 17065 certification by an independent third-party body
- Opposability, contractual and in litigation — the attestation must hold before a statutory auditor and a judge
What evergreen funds now seek
Three documentable expectations:
- Technical predictability — up-to-date RE2020 thermal study, dynamic simulation for summer comfort in zone H3, 50-year carbon LCA, tertiary decree under control
- Ecological readability — biodiversity score with published, auditable method, consistent with ESRS E4
- Auditable compliance — consolidated regulatory file (Water Act, Natura 2000, CNPN) for development and renewable-energy operations
The NORMAXIS response — three separated functions
NORMAXIS addresses these requirements through three strictly separated subsidiaries, with no overlap:
- ARKEMEP — thermal, MEP and acoustics engineering office, carbon LCA. RE2020 study, dynamic simulation, Ic_construction / Ic_energy.
- ARKENOR — environmental consulting, construction certifications (NF Habitat HQE, BREEAM, HQE Bâtiment Durable), ecological surveys, regulatory measurements (QUALIBAT 8711 air-tightness, QUALIBAT 8741 ventilation).
- IRICE — independent third-party certification body under ISO/IEC 17065 for Effinature certification and the BPS score. Designs no project.
This separation is required by ISO/IEC 17065. It is structurally the independence guarantee that an article 9 fund or an evergreen manager expects.
FAQ — ESG assets and private markets
What is an evergreen real-estate fund?
An open-ended (semi-open-ended) vehicle, as opposed to closed-end funds with a limited life. Liquidity is managed continuously, which makes documentary ESG quality critical — every periodic valuation draws on environmental data.
Is a self-declared biodiversity score suitable for an article 9 fund?
Not durably. SFDR article 9 requires a "sustainable investment objective" with verifiable information. A score produced by an actor who participates in designing the project exposes to a requalification risk for conflicts of interest and to a challenge of the commercial argument.
What consolidation at portfolio level?
BPS (Biodiversity Performance Score) produces an attestation per asset, consolidable at portfolio level via a published method. This consolidation directly feeds ESRS E4 reporting and SFDR PAI biodiversity indicators.