New standard for the real estate industry: gif e.V. and gpti e.V. publish integrated value creation concept 2026
The gif Gesellschaft für Immobilienwirtschaftliche Forschung e.V. and the gpti – German Platform for Technology and Innovation e.V. publish the first joint publication of their cooperation with the new "Value Creation Concept for the Construction and Real Estate Industry". The working paper develops an integrated and customer-centric reference framework for the real estate industry and maps the value creation over the entire life cycle of a property.
The starting point is the central challenges facing the industry: fragmented processes and responsibilities, media discontinuities, and heterogeneous IT and data landscapes. This is where the value creation concept comes in and creates a common structure in which processes, actors, data and customer requirements are linked with each other. To this end, the life cycle of a property is divided into nine consecutive value creation stages: needs assessment, location identification & acquisition, conception, planning & BIM, material procurement, construction & control, marketing, portfolio & asset management, technical operations, commercial operations and recycling/exit. The nine stages are in turn assigned to four overarching phases of the customer journey: initiation & planning (stages 1–3), implementation & marketing (levels 4–5), management (levels 6–8) and completion (level 9). This creates a consistent system that connects previously published life cycle models and areas of the construction and real estate industry that were previously often considered separately.
Across all stages of the value chain, the concept follows three central guiding principles: Customer Journey & Customer Centricity, Digitalization & Data, and Sustainability & ESG. In each stage, the respective primary customer, their requirements and the specific customer benefit are considered. At the same time, end-to-end data flows and interfaces are intended to enable consistent data availability over the entire life cycle. Existing standards such as the gif-IDA standards should be integrated. Sustainability requirements and regulatory framework conditions are also taken into account across all life cycle phases. In addition, the value creation concept assigns the relevant market players to the individual stages. Both the strategic (decision-making) level with owners, fund and investment managers and portfolio managers and the operational performance level with project developers, architects, construction companies, asset, property and facility managers, banks and municipalities are taken into account.
"The real estate industry needs a uniform and connectable language for all market participants. With the Value Creation Concept 2026, we are creating a common frame of reference that increases transparency, makes interfaces visible and creates the basis for end-to-end processes and data structures," says Prof. Dr. Verena Rock, gif e.V. The value creation concept is aimed at companies and institutions along the entire real estate value chain – from owners and investors to project developers and operators to banks and the public sector. "It was important to us not to stop at a theoretical system, but to develop an approach that can be transferred to existing corporate structures. The implementation guide is intended to help you analyze your own initial situation, identify specific fields of application and gradually put the concept into practice," says Heike Gündling, gpti e.V.
The implementation guide contained in the working paper describes a possible path from the analysis of existing processes and data structures to initial pilot applications and step-by-step implementation. The aim is to better understand interfaces, map responsibilities more transparently and create a common basis for digital, sustainable and customer-centric processes in the construction and real estate industry.
The complete working paper "Value Creation Concept for the Construction and Real Estate Industry – An Integrated, Customer-Centered Market Standard for the Real Estate Industry along the Customer Journey" is published by gif e.V. and gpti e.V.
