Investigation of the BNB Building Certification for the Further Development of the Energy Performance Certificate

Abstract

In this study, a life cycle oriented planning of buildings is proposed to support future building developers and planners in making environmentally sound decisions on the basis of comprehensive information. The study, in which the building certification BNB (Bewertungssystem Nachhaltiges Bauen, or “Assessment System for Sustainable Building”) is carried out on the example of an office building, is applicable to German-speaking countries. In addition to meeting the requirements of the 2020 German Energy Act for Buildings (GebäudeEnergieGesetz, GEG), the aim is to optimize the building with regard to sustainability criteria of the BNB by revising and expanding the existing planning so that the “gold” quality label can eventually be achieved. The biggest influence on this optimization process is, among other things, the life cycle costs, the adaptability of the building, the primary energy demand as well as the technical quality. Based on these findings, this research paper details the further development of the energy performance certificate, before in a final step the building assessment can be graphically presented with regard to both aspects – energy efficiency (final energy) and sustainability (in terms of ecological, economic, socio-cultural, functional and technical quality, process quality and location characteristics) – from the production phase through the usage phase up to the disposal phase.