sustainability into several parts. In order to assess the environmental performance of buildings and provide clear guidelines concerning calculation methods and procedures, the first preliminary standard, prEN 15 978 was published in early 2010: Assessment of environmental performance. It is generally based on the results of life cycle analyses and Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs). The following core aspects have been defined for the assessment of a building’s environmental performance (Fig. 4.2, p. 88) [8]: • environmental impacts • resource input • waste categories • output flows leaving the system The assessment of the economic performance and social performance of sustainable buildings is to be added by 2012. First drafts of the criteria catalogues are already available. Whereas the main focus of the economic performance is on life cycle costs (construction, opera-
tion and demolition costs) and value preservation, the assessment of social performance considers the following aspects [9]: • health and comfort • thermal performance • humidity • quality of water for use in buildings • indoor air quality • acoustic performance • visual comfort • accessibility International and European system comparison In recent years numerous studies have been undertaken by certification bodies, research institutes and the building sector with a view to making the contents and results of assessment tools comparable and to enable existing sustainability labels to be used in other countries as well as internationally. For this purpose, multiple assessments of individual build-
ings have been performed using different systems [10]. Worldwide established certification institutions, such as BREEAM, LEED or DGNB, also perform comparisons to improve, further develop and adapt their systems to meet international needs [11]. When developing new, country-specific labels, developers draw on the know-how and experience of available tools. For example CASBEE in Japan and Green Star in Australia have based their systems on LEED and BREEAM respectively. The DGNB certificate also builds upon the know-how of established international systems, however, also incorporates new features into the building’s assessment scheme which consider economic, social, technical and processspecific aspects [12]. All studies have clearly shown that building certification requires country-specific assessment systems which are adapted to the local political, social and climatic conditions. However, the studies have also highlighted the need for an interna-
Methodical basis
Buildings
Building products
ISO 15 392 Sustainability in building construction – General principles ISO/NP TS 12 720 Sustainability in building construction – Guidelines for the application of the general principles on sustainability ISO/TS 21 929 Sustainability in building construction – Sustainability indicators – Part 1: Framework for the development of indicators for buildings ISO/NP 21 929-2 Sustainability in building construction – Sustainability indicators – Part 2: Framework for the development of indicators for civil engineering work ISO/ DTR 21 932 Sustainability in building construction – Terminology
ISO 21 931-1 Sustainability in building construction - Framework for assessment methods for the environmental performance of construction work – Part 1: Buildings
ISO 21 930 Sustainability in building construction – Environmental declaration of building products
Concept Level
Framework Level
Environmental performance
prEN 15 643-1 Sustainability assessment of buildings – General framework
Environmental aspects
Social aspects Economic aspects a a
Building level
Product level
prEN 15 643-2 Framework for environmental performance
prEN 15 978 Assessment of environmental performance
prEN 15 804 Environmental product declarations prEN 15 942 Communication format B-B) CEN/TR 15 941 Generic data
Social performance
prEN 15 643-3 Framework for social performance
WI 015 Assessment of social performance
Economic performance
prEN 15 643-4 Framework for economic performance
WI 017 Assessment of economic performance
Technical performance
Technical characteristics
Functional performance
Functionality
b
4.1
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