Building+Sustainability.civil+Engineer+Approach

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Table of Contents 1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 3

2 Generalities about Sustainability .................................................................................................... 5

2.1 Definition of sustainability...................................................................................................... 5

2.2 Sustainability science .............................................................................................................. 6

2.2.1 Climate ............................................................................................................................ 7

2.2.2 Biodiversity ..................................................................................................................... 9

2.2.3 Agriculture .................................................................................................................... 10

2.2.4 Energy and resources .................................................................................................... 12

2.2.5 Water ............................................................................................................................. 14

2.2.6 Economic development ................................................................................................. 16

2.2.7 Health ............................................................................................................................ 18

3 Certification Programs for the Evaluation of Building Sustainability .......................................... 20

3.1. German Sustainable Building Certificate (Deutsche Gütesiegel für Nachhaltiges Bauen DGNB)

.......................................................................................................................................................... 20

3.1.1. General ................................................................................................................................ 20

3.1.2. Topics and criteria ............................................................................................................... 21

3.1.3. Evaluation ........................................................................................................................... 26

3.2. LEED 2009 for New Construction and Major Renovations ...................................................... 27

3.2.1. General ................................................................................................................................ 27


3.2.3. Evaluation ........................................................................................................................... 33

3.3. BREEAM for Offices 2008................................................................................................... 34

3.3.1. General ................................................................................................................................ 34


3.3.3. Evaluation ..................................................................................................................... 40

4 Author‘s Proposals for the Building Sustainability ...................................................................... 42

4.1. Global model ......................................................................................................................... 43

4.2. Specific model ...................................................................................................................... 49

Building Sustainability

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4.3. Application of the evaluation models ................................................................................... 52

4.3.1. Family Dwelling ........................................................................................................... 52

4.3.2. Strengthened element .................................................................................................... 56

5 Conclusions ................................................................................................................................... 58

6 References ..................................................................................................................................... 60

Civil Engineer Approach

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1 Introduction

The term ―sustainability‖ is a very complex and ambiguous and in order to be approached

correctly by an engineer it has to be clear defined and measurable. For example if you tell metaphors

as ―the planet is suffering‖, it makes no sense to a scientist or engineer because planet cannot suffer in

any commonly understood sense of the word. Engineers need rational facts as they are considered

persons who solve problems, give solutions for the real problems. For this reason to enable solutions

in such complicated spaces engineers and their methodologies are rather quantitative.

In order to design efficient and advanced technological systems, products and services, good

engineers are needed. Furthermore, if these products and service are environmental friendly, with high

social performances in a globalizing economy, we can talk about sustainable engineering. As a system

becomes more complex, it undermines the stability of the cultural and institutional framework within

engineers and other operates. Thus, the modern engineer faces a world, where not only his/her task

becomes more complicated, but also the environment within which the engineers must practice.

From a conceptual point of view, sustainability has to be reformulated, from a mythic,

qualitative, highly normative construct, in a phrase that is culturally acceptable and useful for

applying quantitative in engineering disciplines.

The construction industry plays an important role in the social - economic development, but

has also a great impact on the local and global environment. It is a major consumer of land and raw

materials and generates a great amount of waste. Furthermore, constructions through their entire

lifecycle use significant amounts of nonrenewable energy and contribute to the emission of

greenhouse gases and other gaseous wastes.

According to some institutes, the building and construction industry uses 40% of the materials

entering the global economy, consumes approximately 50% of the total energy supply and contributes

with almost 50% to the total CO2 emissions released to the atmosphere through different stages,

including construction, operation and demolition [11], [34].

Sustainable construction has recently been identified as one of the lead markets for the near

future of the whole world. It has the potential and the ability to respond to market needs, the strength

of the world‘s industry and the necessity to support it through the implementation of public policy

measures.

A sustainable construction develops the idea of low embodied energy, reduced greenhouse

gas emissions, low operation and maintenance costs, responsibly sourced materials with recycled

contents, durability, adaptability and comfort. In many countries directives and certificates has still

been developed and adopted, which evaluate the environmental performances of buildings but also

consider other important issues of sustainability.


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The book is composed of six main chapters with the following content:

Chapter one represents the introduction part and presents the main subjects of the book.

In the second chapter the authors present a short theoretical part about sustainability in

general, followed by description of how sustainability can be applied in different fields of science.

Examples of domains and research fields where the issues of sustainability can be identified are

presented.

Chapter three deals with the presentation of some important Sustainable Building Certificates:

DGNB, LEED and BREEAM. Specific schemes of these certification tools are presented in detail and

evaluated based on some criteria.

In chapter four two evaluation models, proposed by the authors, are discussed. The first one is

a global model and the second one is a specific model. These models are finally applied on two

examples: a family dwelling and a strengthened element.

Chapter five presents the main ideas and conclusions which have been underlined.

The last chapter, chapter six, includes the references and the sources which have been used.

The main arguments which determined the authors to write this book are related to some

deficiencies of the existing certification tools like:

The certificates are mainly qualitative, with few quantitative criteria, so the

evaluation of a building may be difficult and subjective;

Some of the certificates do not include financial aspects in the evaluation framework,

although environmental issues and financial considerations should go hand in hand at a global

analyze;

Many certification tools refer in an inadequate manner to the technical qualities, such

as structure safety, fire protection, etc., although the sustainability of a building is strong influenced

by the technical aspects;

The environmental assessment tools are predominantly applicable to new

constructions although the strengthening of the structures and maintenance of existing building is also

important for a sustainable future [5], [31], [62].

The aim of the authors was to propose some evaluation models, with more quantitative

values, which can be applied to whole buildings and also to strengthening solutions. The models

should help civil engineers to take the right decision when choosing a solution.


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2 Generalities about Sustainability

2.1 Definition of sustainability

The word ―sustainability‖ is derived from the Latin ―sustinere” and means the ability to

sustain, maintain or support something. The term has been used initially in context with the ability of

the ecosystem to maintain a level that is able to ensure the supply of food, forestry, fishery,

agriculture and other providential resources to the growing population. In this sense, sustainability is

linked to environment and ecology that provides us with food, land and other important products and

services.

The sense of sustainability has advanced over the centuries growing up to a trend of the

modern society. Sustainability or sustainable development becomes a complex idea that can neither be

unequivocally described nor simply applied (Martens P. 2006) [41].

There have been proposed many definitions for sustainability, but one of the most widely

accepted and most frequently quoted is the definition that came after the Brundtland Report by the

World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) in 1987. It stated: ―sustainable

development is a development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of

future generations to meet their own needs‖. The concept of sustainability/ sustainable development

first linked environment with development. It linked together issues of the natural system with social

challenges and economical growth, in a time frame of present and future. This is the reason why it

becomes common to represent sustainable development as a confluence of the three pillars: economy,

environment and society (Fig.1) [18].

Figure 1Scheme of sustainable development: at the confluence of three preoccupations.

Sustainability can be defined in each of these pillars individually, but the significance of the

concept is given by the interrelation between them. Each of the domains has its own aims and can

contribute either positive or negative to sustainable development.


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Environmental sustainability focuses on the protection of the ecosystem, trying to maintain a

balance between human activities and natural resources, in order to ensure that the natural capital is

healthy recoverable, so it can be used also by the future generations. Unsustainable situations appear,

if the resources are used not carefully and inefficiently. They contribute to the degradation of the

ecosystem and on a global scale to the extinction of biodiversity.

The aim of social sustainability is to influence the development of the people and societies in

such way, that justice, well – being and health play an important role. Through education the

sustainable way of thinking and living should be implemented. Unsustainable behavior can lead to

social disruptions like war, crime and corruption that can damage the capacity of the society to plan

and build for the future.

In economic sustainability the focus is on the development of the economic infrastructure and

efficient management of natural and human resources. Sustainable business practices can integrate

ecological concerns with social and economic ones. Unsustainable business, called ―uneconomic

growth‖ can lead to a decline in the quality of life (Kinsley et al. 1997) [36].

2.2 Sustainability science

Emerging concerns about sustainability are visible in a number of societal and industrial

sectors, including economics, education, politics, construction and the public at large. Therefore

sustainability has to be concrete and measurable with an integrated approach, in order to ensure a

solid support for making the correct decisions and taking the appropriate measures.

A philosophical and analytic framework of sustainability was created, that connects the

accumulated knowledge of different scientific fields and disciplines. This is the new paradigm –

sustainability science. It is not yet an autonomous research field or discipline and its impact is still

unknown, but sustainability science has to be the top priority mission for all scientific and research

areas (Raven 2002; Holden 2008) [53]. The name of this scientific field reflects the desire to

concretize and materialize all the general concerns of sustainability in an analytic and scientific

manner. Clark and Dickson (2003) [13] describe sustainability science as a vibrant arena that ―brings

together scholarship and practice, global and local perspectives from north and south and disciplines

across the natural and social science, engineering and medicine.‖

There is an ongoing discourse on the characteristics of sustainability science. Ostrom et al.

(2007) [47] characterized sustainability science as applied science and said that if ― sustainability

science is to grow into a mature applied science, we must use the scientific knowledge achieved in the

separate disciplines of anthropology, biology, ecology, economics, environmental science, geography,

history, law, political science, psychology and sociology to build diagnostics and analytical

capabilities.‖ Gibbsons (1994) [21] stated that sustainability science emerges from a scientific sub –

current, that characterizes the evolution of science in general, a shift from mode 1 science, a science

completely academic in nature, mono-disciplinary, technocratic and predictive, to mode 2 science,


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which is at core both inter- and intra-disciplinary, academic and social, participative and exploratory.

The same idea is shared by Palmer et al. (2007) [48] and Martens (2006) [41] who said that

sustainability is a multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary and trans-disciplinary field, whose central

element is represented by inter and intra-disciplinary research, co- production of knowledge, co-

evolution of a complex system and its environment, learning through doing and doing through

learning and system innovation instead of system optimization.

Taking a closer look to the fields of interests, we can observe that many important concerns

and issues related to sustainability are treated in a way or other by different research fields and

domains of science. This shares the idea that sustainability science is an applied science with

multidisciplinary characteristics. The main issues whom scientists and researches pay attention are

regarded to climate, biodiversity, agriculture, energy and resources, water, economic development,

education, life style and well-being, and last but not least human health. These problems and concerns

are the same for everybody and we confront a part of them day by day in a way or other. But what is

different for everybody is the way we approach these problems. A civil engineer has a different way

of thinking and different way to approach issues related to climate or resources than a biologist,

chemist or economist. It would be incorrect to say which point of view is correct and there is no

interest to do so.

Every domain has its particularities and its own methods to approach sustainability issues.

Important is to share the results and the knowledge with each other and to benefit from the

experiences gained by others to achieve the common goal, a sustainable world.

Sustainability science was a good beginning and a solid foundation for scientist and

researchers all over the world to share their ideas and results to others with similar interests. The proof

that sustainability is in continues increase, are the researches done by Kajikawa et al. (2007) [33].

They stated that over 3000 papers on sustainability issues are currently published annually in different

journals specialized on sub – domains of sustainability.

In the following section a short description of the main sustainability issues is presented,

including what these issues refer to and how they are approached in different domains. The issues are

summarily described and exemplified, in different domains, based on published studies and

researches.

2.2.1 Climate

Defined in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)

[29] glossary, climate in a narrow sense is usually defined as the "average

weather," or more rigorously, as the statistical description in terms of the mean

and variability of relevant quantities over a period of time ranging from months

to thousands or millions of years. The classical period is 30 years, as defined by

the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). These quantities are most often surface variables


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such as temperature, precipitation, and wind. Climate in a wider sense is the state, including a

statistical description, of the climate system.

In terms of sustainability, climate is connected in most of the cases to climate change and

global warming. Global warming is the consequence of long term increase of greenhouse gases (CO2,

CH4, N2O, etc.) in the higher layer of the atmosphere. The emission of these gases is the result of

intensive environmentally harmful human activities such as the burning of fossil fuels, deforestations

and land use changes. The annual fluxes of CO2 emissions are greater than the capacity of land and

ocean to uptake and sink these emissions. Therefore most of the studies and preoccupations focus on

the reduction of CO2 and other non CO2 emissions in order to mitigate global warming.

Several studies focused on carbon cycle in the ecosystem, carbon dioxide reduction or effects

of global warming. Brack et al. (2006) [9] developed a hybrid of empirical and process modeling

carbon: nitrogen mass balanced ecosystem model in Australia, which can estimate the greenhouse gas

(GHG) emissions of different management activities. The model takes in consideration all the relevant

effects of ecosystem components, such as climate, land cover change, crop yield, forest growth, soil

etc. The model combines different existing approaches and offer very comprehensive and accurate

results.

Ai Hiramatsu et al. (2008) [2] realized a study on global warming issues, developing a

mapping framework for global warming, that includes seven phases: 1) socio – economic activity and

GHG emissions; 2) carbon cycle and carbon concentration; 3) climate change and global warming; 4)

impacts on ecosystem and human society; 5) adaptation; 6) mitigation; and 7) social system.

Representing the research results of Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change Fourth Assessment

Report IPCC AR4 with the mapping, conducted to a series of concerns in climate issues and offered a

comprehensive picture of current scientific knowledge about global warming.

Global climate plays an important role also for oceans, sees, and river flows. Related to these

aspects, Poff et al (2007) [52] studied the effect of dams on river flows, taking in consideration the

magnitude, frequency and timing of high and law flows. The studies showed that effects of the dams

on those parameters and on the homogenization of river flows.

In order to reduce the risks related to climate change and global warming, two options are

available: mitigation of climate change or adaptation to climate change. To mitigate climate change

the emissions of GHGs has to be reduced or captured and stored, according to Stephens (2006) [59]

who reviewed carbon capture and storage technologies from institutional perspective.

Lagerblad B. (2005) [38] realized a study on the CO2 uptake of concrete structures during its

life cycle in the Nordic countries. The CO2 uptake was calculated for an initial service life period of

70 years followed by a 30 year post-demolition period. The result showed that about 0.5% of the total

national CO2 emissions will be re-absorbed in concrete in Denmark, Sweden and Norway. The

corresponding number for Iceland is about 1%. The calculations showed that up to 30% of the total

CO2 emission from cement production, or up to 57% of the CO2 emission from the so-called


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calcinations process in cement manufacturing, is re-absorbed when the cement is utilized in concrete

construction in the Nordic countries.

The second societal response option, traditional for human beings, is the adaptation.

According to Hay and Mimura (2006) [25] there are 5 adaptation options: to reduce the cause, to

reduce the impact of the result and to avoid, redistribute or to accept the risk.

A key factor and important adaptation strategy is the institutional one. Institutions and their

associated policies play an important role in climate change issues. One of the most important

international policy measures is the Kyoto Protocol, adopted in 1997, which has the aim to reduce

GHG and to fight global warming. Another important protocol is the 1987 Montreal Protocol on

Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, which was designed to reduce the production, consumption

and emission of substances responsible for ozone depletion.

The aspect of climate and GHG emissions is the main aspect of global and environmental

sustainability, but not the only one. Another important issue, that characterizes the ecosystem itself, is

biodiversity.

2.2.2 Biodiversity

Biodiversity represents one of the most important sources of

livelihood of different kind of stakeholders. It supports a number of natural

ecosystem processes and services [45]. The most important human benefits of

the biodiversity are the:

- provision services in terms of food, fuel, raw materials for

construction works;

- regulating services such as carbon sequestration, air quality, water regulation, erosion;

- supporting services such as soil, fishery, nutrient cycling;

- cultural services through their importance to ceremonies, believes and aesthetics.

But like in case of climate, human activities have a disturbing effect on the biodiversity.

Either directly through the destruction of the habitat, overharvesting or overhunting, or indirectly

through pollution, waste generation, etc., the society indicates unsustainable ecological practices.

One of the most important causes of disturbed biodiversity is the over population, which lead

to expansion of human settlements. New developments are built in species – rich locations treating

local and regional biodiversity. A lot of studies and researches in the domain of natural science have

been done on the vulnerability and evolution of different plant and animal species. Thuiller et al.

(2007) [61] simulated the distribution and vulnerability of 1350 European plant species under 7

different climate change scenarios. The results showed that more than a half of the species are

vulnerable or threatened by 2080, as an effect of temperature and moisture conditions changes. Taylor

and Irwin (2004) [60] made a similar study on the vulnerability of exotic plants in the USA by linking

the direct and indirect effects of human population, economics and ecological variables. The result of


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the study showed, that economic activities in construction and urban development can disturb the

natural landscape.

M.S. Suneetha (2009) [39] recognizes the issues that arise related to the sustenance of

resources, of ecological balances and equity in transaction due to the globalization of resource

commercialization. The paper goes beyond the definition of ―sustainability‖ stated by the

IUCN/UNEP/WWF in 1991 as the capacity to maintain a certain process or state for ‗‗improving the

quality of human life while living within the carrying capacity of supporting eco-systems‘‘. It includes

parameters related to equity among stakeholders to returns from biological resources, related

knowledge, trade-offs, and ethical business practices related to these resources in every stage of their

supply route from raw material stage to marketing and effecting sale. The author reached to the

conclusion, that a strong political and social will is needed in order to develop a sustainable

management of the resources.

Another important aspect that is related to biodiversity is the land use and land change. They

have emerged as a fundamental component of sustainability research. Runsheng Yin and Qing Xiang

(2008) [54] presented an integrated approach to model land- use/cover changes LUCC. They

underlined the complex interactions of human and natural drivers. Their analyses focused on the

Upper Yangtze basin of China in terms of cropland use, grain production, soil erosion and related

technical changes. The results showed that technical change plays an important role in food supply on

limited cropland. Limited cropland expansion reduces soil erosion, which benefits grain production.

In conclusion policies and institutions have a major impact on land use and based on these results they

can carry out a sustainable management plan for land use and ecosystem.

2.2.3 Agriculture

Agriculture has always played a very important role in the life of our

society. It has performed pretty well over the last decades by sustaining the

permanently growing population with food, fiber, and also possibilities for a

good livelihood. But in context of sustainability, agriculture is confronting two

main problems:

1) Is agriculture able to meet the future demands of food and fiber, without affecting the

resource base?

2) How can the effects of agricultural activities, which disturb the natural conditions, be

reduced?

According to the Agriculture and Natural Resources Team of the UK, the agriculture is

sustainable when current and future food demands can be met without compromising unnecessarily

economic, ecologic and social/politic needs. In order to manage these problems, principles of

sustainability must be a core part of agricultural policies, to enable proper conditions for an efficient

and environmental friendly resource use.


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To imply the sustainability issues of agriculture in a greater manner, a new concept and term

has been introduced: ―Sustainable agriculture‖. Under the law [19] ―the term sustainable agriculture is

defined as an integral system of plant and animal production having a site-specific application that

will, over the long term:

- satisfy human food and fiber needs;

- enhance environmental quality and the natural resource base upon which the agricultural

economy depends;

- make the most efficient use of nonrenewable resources and on-farm resources and integrate,

where appropriate, natural biological cycles and controls;

- sustain the economic viability of farm operations; and

- enhance the quality of life for farmers and society as a whole."

Agricultural sustainability has become very popular and of great interest among stakeholders.

Through public debates, political stakeholders, with a particular political agenda, influence the

formation of public opinion on sustainability agriculture.

Philipp Aerni (2008) [51] investigated to what extent stakeholder‘s attitude and interests help

to explain the national conception of sustainability agriculture and how these conceptions diverge

between countries with different agricultural policies. The study has been realized on two

stakeholders‘ perception surveys in Switzerland and New Zealand. Both countries are economically

highly developed, have a similar degree of human autonomy in terms of political freedom and share

similar social values. Even so the results of the investigations showed different perception surveys,

which means, that the definitions of sustainable agriculture are highly dependent on the country‘s

position in the international agricultural trading system. Swiss stakeholders believed that the Swiss

agriculture is already quite sustainable and that international trade and new technologies only make it

less sustainable. On the other hand, New Zealand stakeholders generally thought, that economic and

technological changes are necessary to increase agricultural sustainability. The attitude of the Swiss

respondents showed the defensive attitude of the country policy, while the progressive attitude of New

Zealand clearly indicates that sustainable agriculture has to be reconciled with national

competitiveness.

Sustainability in agriculture is a waste area of science, which include research and teaching

activities related to food and animal production, soil and water conservation and improvement,

nutritional science, biotechnology, etc. For example Hartshorn et al. (2006) [24] investigated the

amount of nutrients in Hawaii resulting from agricultural activities of farmers centuries ago.

Measurements have been done to compare cultivated and undisturbed land. Results showed that

cultivated land has a lower nutrient status, because of enhanced nutrient release and subsequent loss.

M. Larsson et al (2008) [40] underlined the importance of sustainable governance of

agriculture related to food production and curbed eutrophication in the Baltic Sea drainage area. To

see the effect of EU Expansion on the agriculture and local environment different scenarios were


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created. The first scenario considered that Poland and the Baltic States covered their agriculture

according to Swedish/ Finnish production. The results showed an increase of 58% off nitrogen, 18%

of phosphorus surplus and considerable food production. The second scenario is a more hypothetical

development, where all the agriculture around the Baltic Sea is converted to local organic production

and Ecological Recycling Agriculture (ERA). It resulted in halved nitrogen surplus and eliminated

phosphorus surplus. The food production would decrease or remain stable.

Because of its energy – efficient practice to secure food production, urban agriculture is also

considered a sustainable practice. It increases the amount of food available to people living in cities

and provides them with fresh fruits, meats and vegetables. P. Drechsel and S. Dougus (2009) [50]

exemplified the dynamic and sustainability of urban agriculture in sub- Saharan Africa. They focused

on crape production on larger open cities and investigated how sustainable and dynamical this type of

land is used. To assess the sustainability of urban agriculture they used the adapted Framework for

Evaluating Sustainable Land Management, developed by the Food and Agriculture Organization of

the United Nations (FAO). The dynamic was exemplified with the spatial-temporal changes of open-

space agriculture in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania 1992-2005. In conclusion, crop production on open

urban spaces seemed to be a dynamic, viable and sustainable possibility to provide jobs and food for

the cities. Despite insecurity, non-agricultural land demands and the limited support for irrigated

urban farms, urban agriculture appears persistent and resilient to its changing environment, as long as

it maintains its market advantages.

2.2.4 Energy and resources

Beside climate change and economic

crises, one of the most important problems

the world faces today is regarded to energy

and resource depletion. These two terms are

generally treated together because of their

dependency to each other. Resources like coal and fossil fuel are needed to produce energy; on the

other hand processing materials and resources are leading to the loss of useful energy and/or

materials.

According to the dictionaries, ―resource‖ is defined as ―an available supply that can be drawn

on when needed‖. According to Sato (2007) [55] there have been times when resources were not

needed, so they were dismissed. In a study, he traced the evolution of the resource concept in the

modern Japan, in the context of the II World War. According to his investigations, in the pre-war

period, the military government used the resources concept to create a comprehensive inventory of the

nation‘s military forces and ―resource‖ was thus a convenient to neutralize the aggressive

connotations of top-down military mobilization. After the turn to democratic principles in 1945, the


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concept of ―resource‖ has radically changed. It gained the symbolic connotation of a means to serve

the people.

Human society consumes resources, in most of the cases, to produce energy. Energy is

essential for all kind of human activities. It is used for lightning, warming, cooling, transporting,

building, mining, recycling, etc. Because of the growing population and developing industry, the

conventional energy demands are in continues increase, thus resources like oil, coal and gases are

exposed to the risk of depletion. This process is in contrary to the definition of sustainability to meet

the needs of present generation, without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their

own needs. On a long term, our obligation and priority should be to find methods and invent new

technologies in order to improve energy efficiency and to reduce or eliminate the use nonrenewable

energy sources.

Great technological developments have been done over the last decades to reduce the

consumption of natural sources needed to supply the increasing energy demands. The concept of

sustainable energy has appeared which is characterized by energy efficiency and renewable energy

sources. Renewable energy technologies are essential contributors to sustainable energy as they

generally contribute to world energy security, reducing dependence on fossil fuel resources and

providing opportunities for mitigating greenhouse gases in order to slow down global warming. The

natural resources which can be used to generate renewable energy include wind, sunlight, waves,

tides, geothermal heat, hydro and biological matters. These sources are implemented in different

technologies, which can be categorized as follows:

- first-generation technologies, which include hydropower, biomass combustion, and

geothermal power and heat;

- second-generation technologies, which include solar heating and cooling, wind power,

modern forms of bio-energy and solar photovoltaic;

- third-generation technologies, which are still under development and include advanced

biomass gasification, bio-refinery technologies, concentrating solar thermal power, hot dry rock

geothermal energy, and ocean energy.

Most of these technologies have entered the markets and are used in large scale in all kind of

industrial activities reducing the consumption of conventional energy sources. According to the Kyoto

Protocol, the European Union is obliged to lower with 20% its greenhouse gas emissions until 2020,

which is strict related to the combustion of fossil fuels.

Another great step towards sustainability would be the use of ―closed cycles‖, which means

that the sustainability level of a system could be measured by measuring its capacity to avoid the

consumption of resources. Any technological cycle that brings either a product or a service to our

everyday lives is composed of a sequence of activities, such as resource extraction, storage, transport,

transformation, production, storage and distribution, use, waste formation, partial material recycling

and product reuse and finally waste disposal either to air, ground or water (Orecchini 2007) [46].

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renewable_energy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_security

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fossil_fuel

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenhouse_gases

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydropower

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biomass

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geothermal_power

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bioenergy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biomass_gasification

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biorefinery

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_thermal

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_dry_rock_geothermal_energy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_dry_rock_geothermal_energy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocean_energy


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According to Orecchini [46], sustainable development should not consume resources; it should use

and reuse them, endlessly in a closed cycle. Unfortunately the human society is still using an ―open

cycle‖ where they cause an environmental imbalance.

Sustainability of resource use is becoming an important issue also in other sectors, beside

energy. Fossil fuels such as coal, petroleum, oil and natural gases are the most used resources for the

production of energy, but they are non-renewable, which cannot be produced, grown, generated, or

used on a scale which can sustain its consumption rate. These resources exist in a fixed amount and

are consumed much faster than nature can create them.

Contrary, there are renewable resources, like timber, metals or even fishery, which in a

sustainable way of harvesting can sustain their consumption rate. Roughgarden J. et al. (1996) [32]

wrote an article about why fishery is in collapse and what do about it. They reached to the conclusion

that economic theory for managing a renewable resource, such as a fishery, leads to an ecologically

unstable equilibrium. That‘s why a fishery should be managed for ecological stability.

The importance of forests is evident. They function as habitats for different organism, provide

us with timber, and are also responsible for carbon sequestration. Forests cover 4 billion hectares of

the Earth‘s land surface, of which 36% are primary and 53% are modified natural forests. In 2005, 3.5

billion m3 of wood of 434 billion m

3 growing stock were removed from the forests and used as round-

wood or fuel wood. Forest loss tends to occur in low-income countries, largely in the tropics, whereas

higher-income countries have reversed their earlier forest losses and are already experiencing forest

expansion ( Kirilenko and Sedjo 2007) [37].

2.2.5 Water

Water, in special fresh and potable water, is one of the key

resources for the human kind on earth. Although water covers 70%

of the Earth‘s surface, unfortunately, this is not all fresh or potable

water. The quantity of fresh water, in form of rivers, lakes and

underground watercourses is only 1%. Theoretically, water is

considered a renewable resource, because it comes from the evaporation of oceans, the condensation

of clouds and melting of snow. In reality it cannot be considered 100% renewable, due to the fact that

not all the water consumed by people through different activities is recycled and replenished in the

hydrological cycle. The main problem is that the society is consuming more and more water due to

the population growth, but the fresh water resources remain the same. Beside this, the water

availability is not equally shared in every country; just a few have sufficient reserves. According to

the United Nations, by 2025 there will be around 1.8 billion people living in countries where water is

scarce [63].

Another problem, that complicates the fresh water supply are the contaminants which proceed

from industrial and agricultural activities. Some groundwater resources are contaminated with


15

chemicals from pesticides, herbicides, landfills and industrial wastes. To face the problem of fresh

water scarcity a good water management is required, based clearly defined policies, which constrain

contaminations and offer solution for efficient wastewater recycling.

Major water consumers are the construction sector and the industry in general. Therefore

industrial wastewater has been considered one of the most dangerous factors that affect the

environment, including water sources. These problems had to be solved. Now-a-days different

methods are available for an efficient use of water, for example:

- reengineered processes – can lead to significant water savings;

- reusing wastewater – there are technologies available, which can dry sludge and get pure

water out of it, so industrial water contained in sludge and slurry can be reused many times

without special treatments;

- sequential use – the hot water produced by some industries can be used also for other

processes, which saves energy and water;

- sensor controlled water use – can reduce the consume of unnecessary water;

- leak detection – eliminates the losses in pipes and tanks;

- education programs – the personal working in industry is instructed how to conserve water.

There are some examples that should be followed by every industry. The paper and board

production requires huge amount of water, releasing processed water as effluents into watercourses

and adding fresh water to supply the production line. This is a dissipative use of water, which

correspond to a linear flow instead of a circular flow model. They solved the problem, by developing

the Paper Kidney project, which involves two innovative purification processes with the aim of

achieving efficient effluent-free manufacturing. The system is not cheaper to use in long term, but it

made possible to increase the production while simultaneously keeping effluent discharge at former

level, or even reducing them [49].

Another example of the applied sustainability issues is at the design of the water treatment

plants in Iraq. S. Esposto (2009) [58] analyzed how technical projects can be considered to address

the needs of drinkable water in Iraq and why sustainability of the projects is a key factor in

guaranteeing the durability and efficacy of the actions. To demonstrate this fact, the author analyzed

the design of water treatment plants of common use in that region. To underline the importance of

sustainability in design, three different design options, with the same initial costs, were evaluated. The

results of the analyses showed, that the community has to bear an economic expense in order to

improve sustainability of the plants, but on long term the failure of water delivery will be reduced, so

the investments will be justified.

S.W.Hermanwicz (2008) [57] realized a study on the changes in the meaning and perception

of water resources management in terms of sustainability. Water management evaluated from a

simply water demand concern. Quality issues and water reuse became more important. Sustainable

management also requires the consideration of additional aspects like energy, pollution,


16

contaminations. The author reached to the conclusion, that in order to be considered a decision

making tool, sustainability has to be measurable and quantified. He said that the definition should

consider three important factors: 1) sphere of sustainability; 2) the time horizon; and 3) the metric,

which assess sustainability. In this way a framework can be provided, which ensure a solid base of

comparison between products or entire industrial activities.

2.2.6 Economic development

Taking in consideration the definition of the Deardorffs‘

Glossary of International Economics, economic development is

considered ―a sustained increase in the economic standard of

living of a country’s population, normally accomplished by

increasing its stocks of physical and human capital and improving

its technologies‖ [28].

Many people confront economic development with economic growth, but this is a mistake.

Economic development considers in general the social and technological progress. It follows the

principle of qualitative improve in the production of goods and providing of services, not the

quantitative one, which focuses on wider production scale, but old methods and technologies.

Economic growth is the one with quantitative output, measured usually by the rate of change of the

gross domestic product (GDP).

Generally we can separate two types of economics, the neo-classical environmental economy

and the ecologic economy. The essential idea in the neo-classical approach is that the individual is

always provided the same range of goods and the level of well-being remains constant. This means

that the single aggregated stock of capital is preserved by substitutions between the natural capital and

the man-made capital [42]. On the other hand in ecological economics is much more important to

bring the economy back into harmony with nature, i.e. to integrate it with nature [14].

A good example for ecological economics is the circular economy. This is based on the

principle of recycling and reusing of materials. The recycling of materials can offer also economic

benefits, but most important are the environmental advantages. It reduces the amount of waste and

residuals, and more important, it minimizes the use of virgin materials for different economical

activities. Of course there are situations where recycling is difficult or useless [3]. Like any other

economic activities, circular economy is a private economic viewport. One may consider

environmental benefits as important; others may see only the business and the material benefits.

Recycling and reuse is not always benefic for a company, so the question is whether to obtain for a

sustainable development and strategy or a profit oriented strategy.

Another point of view regarded to the integration of environmental sustainability is that of

N.Stern 2006 [27], who considers that the ignorance of climate change can lead to economic

catastrophe. Higher temperatures will have large impacts on regional weather patterns. Possible


17

consequences are floods and water shortages, which will be only a threat for large cities, but a disaster

for developing countries. Stern appeals to all agencies, especially to local government, who are

involved in economic developments, to include environmental sustainability in their coordination of

different activities like planning, housing, transport, etc. The challenge for those in local economic

developments is to secure jobs and incomes for the local people, without compromising the

environment.

The contribution of the industry is also very important in the implementation of a sustainable

development. They should make the transition to a low-carbon economy. This may be concerned with

the reduction of pollution and the promotion of more efficient resource management in processes,

products and materials. [The Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change 2006-idea

government].

Nordhauses (2006) [44] underlines the idea of Stern, that the environment, in specially

climate, plays an important role in the economic development. He realized a study, based on data of

the G-Econ database, which measures the economic activities of a country on a 1o

latitude and 1o

longitude scale. Three applications were investigated: the effect of climate (temperature), geographic

attributes and the effect of greenhouse gases. The results of the scenarios showed, that at a double

CO2 – equivalent, concentration in the atmosphere would lead to a surface temperature increase of

3oC, which would correspond to a decrease of the global outputs of around 1%. The scenarios were

based on the assumption that countries with high-latitude present high economic performance.

Another important parameter of the economic development is regarded to the population

growth. Its effects can be felt on global level, as well on local level. Myers and Kent (2003) [43]

studied the influence of new consumers on the global environment. The increasing consumption of

meat and water in the developing countries, as well as the rising number of vehicles, which contribute

in a significant proportion to the overall CO2 emissions, has a major impact on the environment. The

solution, to reduce the impacts and to achieve a sustainable economic development in these countries,

is an appropriate policy response.

The rapid economic growth and the increasing number of people in the East Asia caused

several environmental problems, with harmful effects on the well-being of the people in this densely

populated region. Trans-boundary air pollution, water shortages, drinking water contaminations and

deforestations are only some of the environmental problems, which put the East Asian countries on a

bottom place in a world sustainability ranking. After the causes of the environmental threats are

understood, the strategy of sustainable development should be implemented, namely: efficient

resource and energy use, renewable energy sources, recycling and reuse of old materials and waste

[35].

A very important and actual topic, beside environment, is the poverty in many developing

countries. A sustainable economic development has to elaborate a strategy which can solve this

problem. The gravity of this problem is more evident if we consider the report of Chen and Ravallion


18

(2007) [12]. They investigated the poverty in developing countries in the period of 1981-2004. There

have been worldwide about 1470 million people who were leaving below the extreme poverty line of

$1 per day. Even if this number felt to about 960 million, with the current rate of decrease, in 2015

will be still over 800 million people with a living of $1 a day. The situation in Saharan Africa is

worse, the number of poor people almost doubled, from 168 million to 292 million and the percentage

stayed constant.

G. Huppers and M. Ishikawa (2009) [20] made an interesting study. They investigated the

compatibility between technological improvements, on micro-level and sustainability, on macro-level.

They reached to the conclusion, that in order to prevent environmental degradations, the technology

has to improve and the economy to descend. The first step in this way is the integration of eco-

efficiency scores. Therefore life cycle analysis on the technological systems, combined with life cycle

cost analysis should be performed. For a more comprehensive evaluation of the sustainable

parameters, the authors proposed a systematic framework, the ―ten step procedure‖, which they

applied on bio-fuels.

2.2.7 Health

Beside other important issues of sustainability, human health

became also an important topic for sustainability science. Most of the

researches and studies are based on vulnerability analysis, in which humans

are exposed to environmental risks, resulting in some modeling and

simulations of the risks. Based on the results of these simulations, solutions

and policy measures can be proposed, which can lead to a sustainable health.

A very interesting simulation is that of Bloom and Canning (2007) [6]. They examined the

life expectancy of different countries, in 1963 and 2003, based on the rate of mortality. According to

their study, in 40 years the life expectancy increased more than 10 years and continues improvements

are expected. Another important fact, which is argued in the article, is that life expectancy reflects a

dynamic that is more complex than a simple convergence process. For example some high-mortality

countries made a rapid transition to low mortality, whereas others stayed at the same level. In

conclusion sustainable health and life expectancy is in a strong relation with the dispersion of wealth

among nations.

Aufderheide et al. (2004) [4] investigated the origins of the Chagas‘ disease in Chile and

Peru. DNA tests on different specimens desiccated from human mums suggested that the animal-

infected cycle of Chagas‘ disease was well established at the time the first humans joined the other

mammal species, which acted as host for this parasite. The results also showed that there was no

significant difference among cultural groups, or among subgroups compared on the basis of age, sex

and weight.


19

Thank to such kind of investigations and modeling, solutions to reduce Chagas‘ disease has

been proposed and also executed. An example is the one presented by Gürtler et al. (2007) [23]. There

were two campaigns of residual insecticide spraying between 1984 and 2006, in Argentina, mostly in

rural villages. This first action, in 1985, immediately and strongly reduced the domestic infestation

and infection, but because no effective surveillance and control actions followed, the transmission

resurged in 2-3 years. The renewed interventions in 1992 followed by sustained, supervised and

community-based vector control largely suppressed the reestablishment of the disease. Furthermore,

the campaign mobilized communities and established strong relationships between the involved

parties, promoting sustainable health.

Singer and Castro (2007) [56] wanted to ensure sustainable health in the tropics. Therefore

they proposed some solutions, but focused their attention on three main objects: 1) to bridge

engineering with health communities, for example by implementing clear water and sanitation on a

broad scale to prevent re-worming; 2) to build an integrated human and animal disease surveillance

infrastructure and technical capacity based on reporting and scientific evidence; 3) to develop an

independent and equitable organizational structure for health impact assessment as well as to monitor

and mitigate the health consequences of economic development projects.

West et al. (2006) [65] investigated the global health benefits of mitigating the ozone

pollution. Tropospheric ozone (O3) is an oxidant that damages agriculture, ecosystems and materials.

It is formed from photochemical reactions involving NOx and voltaic organic compounds (VOCs),

while CH4 is the primary anthropogenic VOC in the global troposphere. They are both greenhouse

gases, like CO2, which contribute to climate change, but also to poor air quality. They simulated the

effect of methane mitigation and showed that by 20% methane mitigation approximately 30000

premature mortalities could be prevented globally in 2030. In addition $420 000 per avoided mortality

and $240 per ton of CH4 can be saved. It also offers a good opportunity to improve air quality, public

health, agriculture, climate and energy.


20

3 Certification Programs for the Evaluation of Building Sustainability

The environmental building assessment (Sustainable Building certificate), starting with

BREEAM in the UK, have been developed around the world as it was summarized by G.K.C Ding

(2008) [22]: 1990, BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method),

UK; 1996 HKBEAM (Hong Kong Building Environmental Assessment Method), Hong Kong; 1998,

EMGB (Evaluation Manual for Green Buildings), Taiwan; 2000 LEED (Leadership in Energy and

Environmental Design), USA; 2001, GHEM (Green Home Evaluation Manual), China; 2001,

NABERS (National Australian Building Environmental Rating System), Australia; 2007, DGNB

(Deutsche Gütesiegel für Nachhaltiges Bauen), Germany.

In the next chapter three important international certificates are presented: DGNB, LEED and

BREEAM. A comparison is realized between these models and an own evaluation model is proposed,

based on the positive and negative aspects of the existing tools.

To realize this work only readily available, public documents and published reports which

cover the building certification programs, has been used. Further details can be found by purchasing

the program manuals from the rating systems discussed [10], [16], [64].

3.1. German Sustainable Building Certificate (Deutsche Gütesiegel für

Nachhaltiges Bauen DGNB)

3.1.1. General

Founded in 2007, the German Sustainable Building Council together with the Federal

Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Affairs (BMVBS) developed a voluntary certification

system for sustainable buildings the ―German Sustainable Building Certificate‖. The objectives of the

DGNB are the development and promotion of sustainability in the planning, construction and

operation process of a building. Sustainable building is environmental friendly, uses the resources

efficiently, has an intelligent management with low life cycle costs, offers comfort and health to the

users and fit optimally in the socio – cultural ambient. The development of the certification brought

new paths and solutions for the Building and Real Estate Sector in the field of sustainable

construction. The advantages of the German certificate are:

- Active contribution to sustainability;

- Cost- and Planning Certainty;

- Minimizes Risk;

- Praxis – oriented Planning Tool;

- Focus on the Life Cycle;

- Made in Germany;

- Marketing Tool;

- Comprehensive Quality of Property;


21

- The performance is key;

- More than ― Green Building‖

- Flexibility

The certificate is based on the concept of integral planning that sets, at early design stage, the

goals of sustainable construction. In this way, sustainable buildings can be designed with the current

state of technology that results in a higher building quality.

To gain a certificate for a planned building, a DGNB auditor should be assigned. The

procedure of the certification system is based on the following steps:

The rating system is currently available only for new and existent construction of office and

administrative buildings but other system models are in planning or still in the pilot phase. The first

time the Sustainable Building Certification was awarded was at the BAU 2009 in Munich. Initially, it

was awarded for the system variation ―New Construction Office and Administration, Version 2008‖.

3.1.2. Topics and criteria

The DGNB is a very comprehensive rating tool, which covers the relevant areas of

sustainable construction. The certificate is defined by 6 topics, with a total of 49 individual criteria.

The quality of location, which has 6 criteria, is treated separately to have a rating system independent

from the location. Table 1 shows the topics of the DGNB and other characteristic parameters. The

standards that the DGNB uses for the evaluation are DIN, EnEv and other EU – Standards.

Award of the DGNB Certificate

Evaluation of planning and cosntruction documentation by the DGNB

Documentation during planning and construction phases according to DGNB regulations

Use of pre-certification for marketing

Definition of goals for building performance according to gold, silver or bronze

Registration of the building with the DGNB


22

Table 1 The main topics and weightings of the DGNB

Topic DGNB No. of

criteria

Max

Points

Weighting % per

point

Ecological Quality 12 criteria 195p 22.5% 0.115

Economical Quality 2 criteria 50p 22.5% 0.45

Socio - Cultural and Functional Quality 15criteria 280p 22.5% 0.08

Technical Quality 5criteria 100p 22.5% 0.225

Process Quality 9criteria 130p 10% 0.043

Quality of the Location 6 criteria 130p Separate -

Total 49 755(885) 100 0.132

A short overview and description of the topics: New Construction Office and Administration,

Version 2008 and its individual criteria is presented in the following section.

Ecological Quality – 12 Criteria

C01 – 30p – Global Warming Potential (GWP) – the aim is to reduce GWP by the reduction of the

gases that contributes to the greenhouse effect. The contribution of the substance is expressed in

carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2-Equiv) over a period of 100 years.

C02 – 5p – Ozone Depletion Potential (ODP) – the aim is to reduce the emission of the pollutants

destructing the ozone layer, that assure the protection against the UV – radiation.

C03 – 5p – Photochemical Ozone Creation Potential (POCP) – the aim is to reduce the formation of

near - surface ozone, by destructive trace gases like nitric oxide and hydrocarbons in combination

with UV – radiation.

C04 – 10p – Acidification Potential – (AP) – the aim is to reduce the acidification potential, that

means the rising of the concentration of H – ions in the air, water and soil, which react with sulphur

and nitrogen compounds from anthropogenic emissions and form acid, that in form of ― acid rain‖

falls to the earth.

C05 – 10p – Eutrophication Potential (EP) – the aim is to reduce the eutrophication, that means the

transition of water bodies and soil from nutrient – poor to nutrient – rich state, by phosphor- and

nitrogen compounds. These compounds proceed from manufacturing of building materials and

washing – off of combustion emissions.

C06 – 30p – Risks for the Local Environment – the aim is to reduce the risks for the local

environment, by an adequate selection of the building materials.

C08 – 10p – Other Impacts on the Global Environment – the aim is to reduce the impact of a building

on the global environment, by using only certified wood issued by the Forest Stewardship Council

(FSC) or certification authorities that are accredited by the Program for Endorsement of Forest

Certification Schemes (PEFC). The use of tropic, sub-tropic or boreal wood shall be avoided.


23

C09 – 5p – Microclimate – the aim is to reduce the ―heat island ―effect, by choosing proper products

and solutions for the roofs and facades. The heat island effect means, that urban areas are

considerably warmer then rural areas, due to the thermal mass of the buildings that absorb the heat

during daytime and keep it during night.

C10 – 30p – Non – Renewable Primary Energy Demands (PEne) – the aim is to reduce the use of non

– renewable energy resources like coal, petroleum or natural gases. The construction and operation of

the building should be energy-efficient, to reduce the primary energy demands.

C11 – 20p – Total Primary Energy Demands and Percentage of Renewable Primary Energy – the aim

is to minimize the total demand for primary energy and to maximize the use of renewable energy like

biomass, solar radiation, wind energy, etc., during the life cycle of the building.

C14 – 20p – Potable Water Consumption and Sewage Generation – the aim is to reduce the

consumption of potable water and to manage the sewage generation.

C15 – 20p – Surface Area Usage – the aim is to use areas that are already assigned as traffic or

settlement areas or are allocated for the recovery of contaminated locations. In this way the

environmental impact of the buildings can be reduced.

Economical Quality – 2 Criteria

C16 – 30p – Building - related Life Cycle Cost (LCC) – the aim is to reduce the life cycle costs of a

building arising during its entire life, beginning with the project development, up to construction,

operation and deconstruction. Life Cycle Cost analysis have to be done in order to have a support to

make decisions for improvements.

C17 – 20p – Value Stability – the aim is to create buildings with high efficiency, flexibility and

adaptability. That means that buildings can be easily adapted to new requirements and destinations,

without needing high investments.

Socio – Cultural and Functional Quality – 15 Criteria

C18 – 20p – Thermal comfort in the Winter – the aim is to assure optimal work place conditions by

evaluating the thermal comfort, air quality, noise and illumination in the office.

C19 – 30p – Thermal Comfort in the summer – the aim is to assure optimal work place conditions by

evaluating the thermal comfort, air quality, noise and illumination in the office.

C20 – 30p – Indoor Hygiene – the aim is assure a healthy indoor environment, evaluating the quality

of the felt air, the unwanted odours, measuring the TVOC – concentration of the room air and

checking the microbiological situation.

C21 – 10p – Acoustic Comfort – the aim is to create proper conditions, assuring low level interference

and background noise. In this way, the detraction and detriment to health and capability will be

reduced.

C22 – 30p – Visual Comfort – the aim is to achieve a good visual comfort. An important role plays the

daylight availability, visibility to the exterior, glaring, etc.


24

C23 – 20p – User Influences – the aim is to assure the possibility for the user to have an influence on

the ventilation, sun protection, visor, temperature, regulation of daylight and artificial light.

C24 – 10p – Roof Design – the aim is to design roofs, which can reduce the CO2 – emissions, improve

the microclimate, offer suitable areas like green places, solar active areas or socio – cultural utilities.

C25 – 10p – Safety and Failure Risks – the aim is to avoid danger, accidents and catastrophes and to

ensure the sensation of safety in case of accidents offering operation instructions, escape routes, etc.

C26 – 20p – Barrier – free Accessibility – the aim is to build barrier – free buildings that allow the

access and operation for all population groups concerning people with disabilities.

C27 – 10p – Area Efficiency – the aim is to handle the areas as economical as possible. The goals are:

optimization regarding costs, environmental and social optimization.

C28 – 20p – Conversion Feasibility – the aim is design buildings that can be converted with as little

time and effort as possible. The main aspects for a flexible and adaptable building are the modularity,

spatial structure, electricity and heating supply and disposal of water.

C29 – 20p – Accessibility – the aim is to establish buildings, which can be used for different

preferences, have access to a large public or can be rented for third party.

C30 – 10p – Bicycle Comfort – the aim is to encourage people to use bicycle instead of cars for short

distances. In this way a building has to ensure safe bicycle storages, utilities for shower and dressing.

C31 – 30p – Assurance of the Quality of Design and Urban Development in Competition – the aim is

to ensure planning competitions to choose the best solution for the architectonical and constructive

tasks. In this way the architectural diversity is assured.

C32 – 10p – Art within Architecture – the aim is to increase the architectonical quality of a building.

This creative task should establish a direct relationship between building and public and should

update the profile of the location.

Technical Quality – 5 Criteria

C33 – 20p – Fire Protection – the aim is to increase the quality of fire protection. Measures should

exceed the fire protection regulations and should consider also the economic impact and additional

emissions caused by the additional amount of raw materials and supplies.

C34 – 20p – Noise Protection – the aim is to improve the noise protection, exceeding the minimum

requirements. Additional requirements like: protection of privacy and confidentiality, avoiding loss of

concentration, consideration for people with limited hearing, should also be taken in consideration.

C35 – 20p – Energetic and Moisture – Proofing Quality of the Building‘s Shell – the aim is to reduce

the energy demand for space conditioning, assure thermal comfort and avoid structural damage. The

most important role plays the buildings envelope and its parameters: Average heat transmission

coefficient, thermal bridges, permeability of joints, and formation of condensate and air change rate.

C40 – 20p – Ease of Cleaning and Maintenance of the Structure – the aim is to ensure the access to

clean and maintain the parts of the building. It has a high economical and environmental impact on

the building, because the materials can be operated for the maximum useful lifetime.


25

C42 – 20p – Ease of Deconstruction, Recycling and Dismantling – the aim is to increase the ease of

deconstruction, recycling and dismantling in order to reduce waste generation and to increase the

recycling of building materials for future materials.

Process Quality – 9 Criteria

C43 – 30p – Quality of the Project’s Preparation – the aim is to prepare the project optimally. That

means a serial of aspects, like: quality –oriented planning for the needs, discussion about the

objectives, considerations for ―Sustainable Building‖ and user behavior, should be verified and

evaluated.

C44 – 30p – Integral Planning – the aim is to reduce energy consumption and environmental

pollution, to improve users comfort and to be economical. All these can be realized with an integral

planning, which includes the entire lifecycle of the building and interdisciplinary consulting.

C45 – 30p – Optimization and Complexity of the Approach to Planning – the aim is to guarantee a

quality and complex planning, which verify and evaluate different concepts like: Energy, Water,

Waste, etc. and offer alternative comparisons.

C46 – 20p – Evidence of Sustainability during Bid Invitation and Awarding – the aim is to formulate

sustainability targets for products and technologies during the bid invitation and awarding phases.

Decisions should be taken not only on economical quality, but also on environmental and social

quality.

C47 – 20p – Establishing Preconditions for an Optimized Use and Operation – the aim is to provide

proper documentation for the building during its entire life time cycle in order to be controlled and

improved during the utilization phase, instructions for maintenance, operation, which reduce the life –

cycle costs, design documentation of the building structural conditions and user‘s guide.

C48 – 20p – Construction Site/ Construction Process – the aim is to protect the environment and the

health of the participants with low – waste, dust and noise construction sites and environmental

protection.

C49 – 20p – Quality of the Executing Contractors/ Pre – Qualification – the aim is to assure

competence and quality of the executing contractors through the pre – qualifications procedure.

C50 – 30p – Quality Assurance of Construction Execution – the aim is to reach a high quality of the

construction executions by a detailed documentation of the used materials and products and by

measurements and analyses realized for the quality control.

C51 – 30p – Systematic Commissioning – the aim is to realize long – lasting and efficiently operating

building automation. After a specific period adjustments and recalibrations will be done on the

building‘s technical equipments.

Quality of the Location -6 Criteria

C56 – 20p – Risks at the Micro-location – the aim is to choose a location, where the risks of Man –

Made – Hazards, terrorism and natural catastrophes are low.


26

C57 – 20p – Circumstances at the Micro-location – the aim is the choose a location with low impact

of the ambient air quality, noise level, ground circumstances and pollution, electromagnetic field, etc.

C58 – 20p – Image and Condition of the Location and Neighborhood – the aim is to create a positive

image and condition of the site, because in this way the site can be better commercialized.

C59 – 30p – Connection to transportation – the aim is to reduce the traffic flow caused by the

building use. This can be realized by selecting a location for the building with traffic connections to

various means a public transportation.

C60 – 20p – Vicinity to usage – specific facilities – the aim is to choose sites, near to user specific

facilities like: catering, local suppliers, parkways, education, medical care, sport facilities, etc, in

order to satisfy their personal needs.

C61 – 20p – Adjoining Media, Infrastructure Development – the aim is to achieve property

sustainability, so every owner contribute to the ecological and financial release of the city and

community with the support of the local authorities.

3.1.3. Evaluation

The evaluation of the topics and criteria is based on an evaluation matrix with a scoring

system. Each criterion mentioned above, calculated or only qualitative evaluated, can be scored with

up to 10 points. Depending on their importance and relevance, they are weighted with a factor from 0

to 3. After each criterion is scored and weighted a score is obtained, that represent the fulfillment of

the respective topic. Summarizing the partial fulfillments the total fulfillment is achieved, called

―Degree of Compliance‖. In Fig 2 an example of the evaluation matrix is shown.

The bronz, silver or golden building certificate is awarded in function of the total degree of

compliance, according to Table 2.

Table 2 DGNB building certification scale

Bonze From 50%

Silver From 65%

Gold From 80%

Alternatively, the total Degree of Compliance is

indicated by a grade according to Table 3:

Table 3 Grade of the building

Grade Degree of Compliance

1,0 95%

1,5 80%

2,0 65%

3,0 50%

4,0 35%

5,0 20%

Figure 2 Evaluation diagram of the DGNB


27

3.2. LEED 2009 for New Construction and Major Renovations

3.2.1. General

Founded in 1993, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) is a national nonprofit

organization with over 19000 member companies and organizations, including corporations,

governmental agencies, nonprofits and others from the industry. The aim of the USGBC was to define

and measure the performances of ―green buildings‖. The building industry needed an instrument that

was able to measure sustainability of green buildings in order to change the concept of design,

construction and operation of buildings. The buildings should be energy and cost efficient, durable,

environmental friendly, comfortable and healthy.

The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System

is an internationally recognized green building certification system that evaluates environmental

performances of a whole building over its life cycle. LEED constitutes a set of performance standards

that are based on energy and environmental issues and are used to certify the design and construction

of commercial and residential buildings. The first LEED Pilot Project Program, LEED Version 1, was

launched in 1998, followed, after some modifications, by the LEED Version 2 in March 2000. LEED

Version 2.1 appeared in 2002, followed by LEED Version 2.2 in 2005. The newest version is LEED

Version 3, released on 27 April, 2009. Flexible and transparent, the LEED 2009 takes the advantages

of the technologies and advancements in building science and is concentrated on energy efficiency

and CO2 reduction.

The LEED 2009 Green Building Rating System for New Construction and Major

Renovations was designed mainly for new commercial buildings, but can be applied also for other

building types. Beside the certification of new buildings, LEED 2009 certifies design and construction

activities for major renovations of existing buildings.

In order to earn a LEED Certification for the building, first the project must be registered at

the Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI). At the next step the prerequisites must be satisfied

and a minimum of points should be attained. After fulfilling the minimum conditions, the projects are

rated according to their degree of compliance within the rating system.


Like every LEED rating system, LEED 2009 covers 5 environmental topics and 2 additional,

which consider innovative solutions and local conditions. Table 4 shows the environmental topics

with the available credit points, criteria and weightings.


28

Table 4 The main sections and weightings of the LEED

Topics LEED No of

criteria

Max

points

Weighting % per

point

Sustainable Sites (SS) 15 criteria 26p 26% 1

Water Efficiency (WE) 4 criteria 10p 10% 1

Energy & Atmosphere (EA) 9 criteria 35p 35% 1

Materials & Resources (MR) 9 criteria 14p 14% 1

Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) 17 criteria 15p 15% 1

Innovation in Design (ID) 2 criteria 6p Additional -

Regional Priority (RP) 1 criteria 4p Additional -

Total 57 100(110) 100 1

A short overview and description of the topics and requirements for: LEED 2009 for New

Construction and Major Renovations is presented in the following section.

Sustainable Sites (SS)

SSP1 –Req – Construction Activity Pollution Prevention – the aim is to reduce the pollution generated

by construction activities, through an adequate control of the soil erosion, waterway sedimentations

and airborne dust generations.

SSC1 – 1p – Site Selection – the aim is to reduce the environmental impact of a building, by selecting

a site location that has not been defined as prime farmland, habitat for any threatened species, etc.

SSC2 – 5p – Development Density and Community Connectivity – the aim is to construct or renovate a

building on a site that is still developed, with existing infrastructure and located near to basic services

like: Bank, School, Medical Office, etc.

SSC3 -1p – Brownfield Redevelopment – the aim is to build on damaged and contaminated sites,

defined as Brownfield, in order to rehabilitate the location and to reduce the consumption of

undeveloped land.

SSC4.1. – 6p – Alternative Transportation – Public Transportation Access – the aim is to situate the

building near to bus or rail stations, in order to reduce the impacts from car use.

SSC4.2. – 1p - Alternative Transportation – Bicycle Storage and Changing Rooms – the aim is to

provide secure bicycle storage and/or dressing facilities for the building users, in order to reduce the

impacts from car use.

SSC4.3. – 3p – Alternative Transportation – Low – Emitting and Fuel – Efficient Vehicles – the aim is

to encourage the use of environmental friendly vehicles, offering different benefits for the user, in

order to reduce the impacts from car use.

SSC4.4. – 2p - Alternative Transportation – Parking Capacity – the aim is to facilitate the use of

shared vehicle such as carpools, vanpools, by offering minimum parking capacity, in order to reduce

the impacts from car use.


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SSC5.1. – 1p – Site Development – Protect or Restore Habitat – the aim is to provide habitat for

different species and to promote biodiversity, by conserving and restoring existing areas.

SSC5.2. – 1p – Site Development – Maximize Open Space – the aim is to provide vegetated open

spaces in the site area, in order to promote biodiversity.

SSC6.1. – 1p – Storm water Design – Quantity Control – the aim is to implement a storm water

management plan, that is able to reduce impervious cover, contaminants, pollution from storm water

runoff, to increase on – site infiltration, in order to limit disruption of the natural hydrology.

SSC6.2. – 1p – Storm water Design – Quality control – the aim is to manage the storm water runoff,

with different technologies, such as alternative surfaces, nonstructural techniques, etc., in order to

limit de disruption and pollution of the natural water flows.

SSC7.1. 1p – Heat Island Effect – Nonroof – the aim is to implement shading strategies, such as:

existing trees, solar panels, solar reflecting devices or structures, etc., in order to reduce impacts on

microclimate.

SSC7.2. – 1p – Heat Island Effect – Roof – the aim is to use roofing materials with high solar

reflectance index, to install vegetated roofs, or vegetated and high – Albedo roof surfaces, in order to

reduce impacts on microclimate.

SSC8 – 1p – Light Pollution Reduction – the aim is to optimize the interior and exterior lighting

systems, in order to minimize light trespass from the building and site, improve nighttime visibility

through glare reduction, reduce sky – glow, etc.

Water Efficiency (WE)

WEP1 – Req – Water Use Reduction – the aim is to implement strategies that use less water than the

calculated water use baseline, in order to increase water efficiency and to reduce water supply and

wastewater systems.

WEC1 – 2 – 4p – Water Efficient Landscaping – the aim is to reduce or eliminate the use of potable

water or other water resources for landscape irrigation and other site activities, implementing systems

for the capture and recycling of rain - and wastewater, etc.

WEC2 – 2p – Innovative Wastewater Technologies – the aim is to use high – efficiency fixtures and

wastewater treatment systems, in order to reduce the demand for potable water and wastewater

generation on the construction site.

WEC3 – 2 – 4p – Water Use Reduction – the aim is to implement strategies, in order to further

increase water efficiency (up to 40%) within buildings and to reduce water supply and wastewater

systems.

Energy & Atmosphere (EA)

EAP1 – Req – Fundamental Commissioning of Building Energy Systems – the aim is to verify the

energy – related systems, such as heating, ventilating, air conditioning, hot water, refrigeration,

lighting and renewable energy systems, if they perform according to the project, in order to reduce

energy, operating costs, etc.


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EAP2 – Req – Minimum Energy Performance – the aim is to establish the minimum level of energy

efficiency of the building, through energy simulations and compliance with guidelines, in order to

reduce the environmental and economic impacts associated with excessive energy use.

EAP3 – Req – Fundamental Refrigerant Management – the aim is to eliminate the use of

chlorofluorocarbon – based refrigerants in new heating, ventilating, air conditioning and refrigeration

systems, in order to reduce the stratospheric ozone depletion.

EAC1 – 1 – 19p – Optimize Energy Performance – the aim is to achieve higher levels of energy

efficiency than the prerequisite standard, to further reduce the environmental and economic impacts

generated by excessive energy use.

EAC2 – 1 – 7p – On–site Renewable Energy – the aim is to reduce the environmental and economic

impacts of energy produced with fossil fuel, by using on-site self – supply systems with renewable

energy.

EAC3 – 2p – Enhanced Commissioning – the aim is to accomplish further commissioning, started in

the design process, for a higher efficiency.

EAC4 – 2p – Enhanced Refrigerant Management – the aim is to further reduce ozone depletion, by

eliminating the use of refrigerants, or using only refrigerants with low emissions.

EAC5 – 3p – Measurement and Verification – the aim is to develop and implement a measurement

and verification plan, that provides, over time, information on the buildings‘ energy consumption.

EAC6 – 2p – Green Power – the aim is to encourage and to use renewable technologies for a part of

the buildings energy demand.

Materials & Resources (MR)

MRP1 – Req – Storage and Collection of Recyclables – the aim is to provide places, where the

recyclable materials for the entire building, such as paper, glass, plastics, metals, etc., can be collected

and stored, in order to reduce waste generation that is disposed of in landfills.

MRC1.1. – 1 – 3p – Building Reuse – Maintain Existing Walls, Floors and Roof – the aim is to

maintain the existing building structure and envelope, in order to extend the lifespan of the building.

Reusing an existing building reduces the environmental, economic, and social impact of new

buildings generated by the extraction, manufacturing and transport of new materials.

MRC1.2. – 1p – Building Reuse – Maintain Interior Nonstructural Elements – the aim is to reuse the

interior nonstructural elements, in order to reduce the impacts related to new elements.

MRC2 – 1 – 2p – Construction Waste Management – the aim is to establish a consistent waste

management plan, in order to sort the type of waste, whether they are recyclable or will be disposed in

landfill. In addition nonhazardous construction and demolition debris should be recycled, while others

should be incinerated.

MRC3 – 1 – 2p – Materials Reuse – the aim is to reuse salvaged or refurbished materials, in order to

reduce the demand for virgin materials and all the impacts related to extraction and manufacturing of

virgin materials (cost, waste, energy, etc.).


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MRC4 - 1 – 2p – Recycled content – the aim is to encourage the use of building products that

incorporate recycled materials, in order to reduce the impacts of virgin materials.

MRC5 – 1 – 2p – Regional Materials – the aim is to increase the use of building materials that are

extracted and manufactured within the region, in order to reduce the environmental and economic

impacts related to transportation.

MRC6 – 1p – Rapidly renewable Materials – the aim is to use materials with short lifecycle, such as

materials and products made from plants, in order to reduce their long time impacts.

MRC7 – 1p – Certified Wood – the aim is to protect the environment by using only certified wood for

the wood building components, in accordance with the Forest Stewardship Council‘s principles and

criteria.

Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ)

IEQP1 – Req – Minimum Indoor Air Quality Performance – the aim is to assure the comfort and well

– being of the occupants in naturally or mechanically ventilated spaces, establishing minimum indoor

air quality with correctly designed ventilation systems according to standards.

IEQP2 – Req – Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS) Control – the aim is to prohibit smoking in the

building or allow it only in special designed areas, in order to protect the building occupants and

indoor surfaces from environmental tobacco smoke.

IEQC1 – 1p – Outdoor Air Delivery Monitoring – the aim is to install monitoring systems that give

information about the air quality (CO2 level), in order to assure occupants comfort and well – being.

IEQC2 – 1p – Increased Ventilation – the aim is to increase the occupants comfort and well – being

providing addition outdoor air ventilation systems (natural or mechanical) to improve indoor air

quality.

IEQC3.1. – 1p – Construction Indoor Air Quality Management Plan – During Construction – the aim

is to develop and implement an IAQ management plan for the construction phase that takes measures

to protect the workers and occupants from unwanted IAQ problems.

IEQC3.2. – 1p – Construction Indoor Air Quality Management Plan – Before Occupancy – the aim is

to develop an IAQ management plan, for the phase after all finishes have been installed, that provide a

good IAQ by performing a building flush – out or conducting air testing.

IEQC4.1. – 1p – Low – Emitting Materials – Adhesives and Sealants – the aim is to use adhesives and

sealants with low VOC limits, in order to reduce or eliminate indoor air contaminants, that are

odorous or have harmful effects on the occupants.

IEQC4.2. – 1p – Low – Emitting Materials – Paints and Coatings - the aim is that the paints and

coatings applied on the interior of the building do not exceed the VOC – limits, in order to reduce or

eliminate indoor air contaminants, that are odorous or have harmful effects on the occupants.

IEQC4.3. – 1p – Low – Emitting Materials – Flooring Systems – the aim is to use only the flooring

elements that meet the testing and product requirements, in order to reduce or eliminate indoor air

contaminants that are odorous or have harmful effects on the occupants.


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IEQC4.4. – 1p – Low – Emitting Materials – Composite Wood and Agrifibre Products – the aim is to

use composite wood and agrifiber products for the interior of the building that do not contain added

urea – formaldehyde resins, in order to reduce or eliminate indoor air contaminants, that are odorous

or have harmful effects on the occupants.

IEQC5 – 1p – Indoor Chemical and Pollutant Source Control – the aim is to minimize the building

occupants exposure to potentially hazardous particulates and chemical pollutants by implanting

different strategies for the control and elimination of pollutants, gases or chemicals.

IEQC6.1. – 1p – Controllability of Systems – Lighting – the aim is to provide accessible lighting

systems controls, adjustable to individual needs and preferences, in order to increase the productivity

and comfort of the occupants.

IEQC6.2. – 1p – Controllability of Systems – Thermal Comfort – the aim is to design buildings with

comfort controls adjustable to individual needs and preferences, in order to increase thermal comfort

and indeed productivity and well – being of the occupants.

IEQC7.1 – 1p – Thermal Comfort – Design – the aim is to design heating, ventilation and air

conditioning systems and the building envelope in accordance with the standers, in order to provide a

comfortable thermal environment.

IEQC7.2. – 1p – Thermal Comfort – Verification – the aim is to permanently monitor the buildings

performance determined by IEQC7.1, in order to provide for the occupants of the building thermal

comfort over time.

IEQC8.1 – 1p – Daylight and Views – Daylight – the aim is to demonstrate with simulations,

prescriptive or measurements that most of the occupied areas of the building achieve a minimum level

of daylight.

IEQC8.2. – 1p – Daylight and Views – Views – the aim is to provide occupants a connection to the

outdoor environment by ensuring direct line of sight to the outdoor.

Innovation in Design (ID)

IDC1 – 1 – 5p – Innovation in Design – the aim is to give the opportunity to design teams to achieve

exceptional performance above the requirements, if they use strategies not mentioned in the guideline

or if they achieve exemplary performance based on the existing guideline.

IDC2 – 1p – LEED Accredited Professional – the aim is to reach the required quality of the LEED

application and certification process obtaining at least 1 LEED Accredited Professional in the project

team.

Regional Priority (RP)

RPC1 – 1 – 4p – Regional Priority – the aim is to encourage the projects that have an importance for

the regional environment.


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3.2.3. Evaluation

The LEED 2009 evaluation system is based on the allocation of credit points based on a set of

impact categories with potential environmental effects and human benefits. For the fundamental

impact categories are 100 base points available. Additional 10 credit points can be allocated for

Innovation in Design and Regional Priority. Every credit point is a whole and positive number and

each criterion is minimum 1point worth, in order to assure a consistent and useable rating system. To

persuade a LEED certification of any level, the prerequisites (SSP1, WE1, EAP1, 2, 3, MRP1, EQP1,

2) are mandatory. The LEED 2009 credit weightings process involves 3 main steps:

1. The environmental impacts of a reference building will be estimated in 13 categories,

typically to a LEED certified building;

2. The relative importance of the building impacts in each category will be compared with the

weightings developed by the National Institute of Standard and Technology (NIST);

3. The building impacts are quantified by modeling, life – cycle assessments, transportation

analysis and simulations and are used to allocate points to individual criteria.

The final score is obtained by summarizing the points accorded for each criterion. The LEED

2009 for New Construction and Major Renovations certifications are awarded according to Table 5.

Table 5LEED building certification scale

Certified 40-49 points

Silver 50-59points

Gold 60-79points

Platinum 80points and above


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3.3. BREEAM for Offices 2008

3.3.1. General

With a history of over 90 years, the Building Research Establishment is a Governmental

establishment in the UK. Since 1997 it has been completely privatized by the building industry. The

main activities of BRE were researches, consultancies and testing‘s for the construction and the built

environmental sectors of the UK. Beside these, BRE contributes to the preparation of national and

international standards and building codes, including the UK Building Regulations. Being

independent of the Government, BRE was able to approve and certify the products it tested. In 1999

the BRE Certification, renamed later to BRE Global, was borne. Bre Global owns and operates very

important environmental rating schemes, such as BREEAM and EcoHomes.

BREEAM (BRE Environmental Assessment Method) is one of the world‘s leading and most

widely used assessment methods for buildings. It was conceived by BRE and was first used in 1990.

BREEAM offers a set of standards for sustainable design, construction and operation of buildings.

Furthermore BREEAM evaluates and assess the environmental performances of a building. Aim of

BREEAM is to reduce the impact of buildings on the environment, to enable buildings to be

recognized according to their environmental benefits, to provide a credible, environmental label for

buildings and to stimulate the demand for sustainable buildings.

The BREEAM schemes can be used for different types of projects, such as new constructions,

major refurbishments of existing buildings, or fit – outs at design or post – construction stages. They

cover a variety of developments, such as industrial, residential, office, healthcare, education, etc.

In order to get a building BREEAM assessed, two possibilities are available: Standard

BREEAM version and Bespoke BREEAM Certification, for less common building types. The

Standard Certification is based on 6 stages:

BREEAM certification

Quality assurance

Information

Contact a licensed assessor

Have an idea of the level of rating you would like to achieve

The BREEAM Pre-Assessment Estimator


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BREEAM Office 2008 is one of the world‘s most used tool of evaluating and improving the

environmental performances of office buildings. The scheme can be applied on new buildings,

refurbishments and fit – outs, but only on building that consist of office areas and associated

functions/areas. Like every BREEAM scheme, BREEAM Office covers 10 categories of

sustainability, which consist in a number of environmental issues. The issues tend to reduce the

impact of buildings on the environment by defining a performance target and assessment criteria that

has to be met, in order to receive credit points. Each category is defined by a number of criteria and

available credit points with different contribution to the final score (Table 6). In most of the cases, to

achieve a high rating level, the performance targets go beyond the minimum standards defined by the

Building Regulation or other legislation. They represent good practice in the field of sustainability.

Table 6 The main sections and weightings of the BREEAM

Topics BREEAM No of criteria Max credits Weighting % per credit

Management (Man) 5 criteria 10c 12% 1.2

Health and Wellbeing (Hea) 13 criteria 13c 15% 1.15

Energy (Ene) 7 criteria 24c 19% 0.79

Transport (Tra) 6 criteria 10c 8% 0.8

Water (Wat) 4 criteria 6c 6% 1.0

Materials (Mat) 7 criteria 13c 12.5% 0.96

Waste (Wst) 4 criteria 7c 7.5% 1.07

Land Use and Ecology (LE) 6 criteria 10c 10% 1

Pollution (Pol) 7 criteria 12c 10% 0.83

Total 59 105 100 0.95

A short overview and description of the categories and requirements for: BREEAM 2008 is

presented in the following section.

Management

Man1 – 2c – Commissioning (M) – the aim is to realize an adequate commissioning of the building

services, with a comprehensive and well-coordinated plan, carried out in line with current regulations

and guidelines, in order to ensure an optimal performance for the buildings occupants.

Man2 – 2c – Considerate Constructors (M) – the aim is to encourage construction sites managed in a

considerate manner to minimize social and environmental impacts. Thereby the main contractor has to

comply with the Considerate Constructors Scheme (CCS) or other alternative and independently

assessed scheme.

Man3 – 4c – Construction Site Impacts – the aim is to reduce the environmental impacts of the

construction sites related to resource use, energy consumption and pollution by monitoring, reporting


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and setting targets for different items such as CO2 emissions, water consumption, etc. and using only

certified timber.

Man4 – 1c – Building User Guide (M) – the aim is to offer a guidance for the building users that

contains information about building services, water use, energy and environmental strategy,

emergency, waste policy, etc., in order to understand and explore the building efficiently.

Man8 – 1c – Security – the aim is to reduce the risk and fear of crime with the implementation of

effective design measures.

Health and Wellbeing

Hea1 – 1c – Daylighting – the aim is to offer sufficient access to daylight for the building occupants

with appropriate daylight factor and room geometry.

Hea2 -1c – View Out – the aim is to ensure direct line sight to the outdoor, to provide the occupants a

connection to the external environment, in order to reduce the risk of eyestrain and to break the

interior monotony.

Hea3 – 1c – Glare Control – the aim is to provide the most occupied areas with user – controlled

shading systems, in order to reduce the problems related to glare.

Hea4 – 1c – High frequency lighting (M) – the aim is to fit all the fluorescent and compact fluorescent

lamps with high frequency ballasts to reduce the risks caused by the flicker of fluorescent lighting.

Hea5 – 1c – Internal and external lighting levels – the aim is to design lighting systems in accordance

with the standards, in order to ensure best visual performance and comfort for the building occupants.

Hea6 – 1c – Lighting zones and controls – the aim is to provide easy accessible controls for the

lighting systems in the most relevant building areas to ensure occupants a better comfort.

Hea7 – 1c – Potential for Natural Ventilation – the aim is to encourage the use of natural ventilation

to provide adequate cross flow of air and to reduce air – conditioned/mechanically ventilated

buildings in the future.

Hea8 – 1c – Indoor Air Quality – the aim is to assure a good air circulation in order to reduce the risks

to health related to poor air quality.

Hea9 – 1c – Volatile Organic Compounds – the aim is to use products, applied on the interior of the

building, that do not exceed the VOC – limits, in order to reduce or eliminate indoor air contaminants

with harmful effects on the occupants.

Hea10 – 1c – Thermal Comfort – the aim is to achieve appropriate levels of thermal comfort using

advanced software‘s for modeling and simulation.

Hea11 – 1c – Thermal Zoning – the aim is to design buildings with controls which allow the

adjustment of the heating/ cooling systems after individual needs and preferences.

Hea12 – 1c – Microbial Contamination (M) – the aim is to verify if the building utilities are designed

correctly, in order to reduce or eliminate the risk of legionellosis diseases during exploitation.

Hea13 – 1c – Acoustic Performance – the aim is to demonstrate that the buildings acoustic

performance is according to the standards accomplishing measurements and testing‘s.


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Energy

Ene1 – 15c – Reduction of CO2 Emissions (M) – the aim is to design buildings with high energy

efficiency and low CO2 emissions.

Ene2 – 1c – Sub – metering of Substantial Energy Uses (M) – the aim is to provide energy sub –

meters labeled with the end energy consume for systems such as heating, cooling, humidification,

lighting, etc, in order to monitor and improve the energy consumption.

Ene3 – 1c – Sub – metering of High Energy Load and Tenancy Areas – the aim is provide the building

with accessible sub – meters, labeled with the end energy consuming use of the tenants and end users.

Ene4 – 1c – External Lighting – the aim is to encourage the use of energy – efficient light fittings for

external areas in order to reduce the energy consumption.

Ene5 – 3c – Low Zero Carbon Technologies (M) – the aim is to encourage the use of renewable

energy sources, installed locally or provided by an energy supplier, in order to supply a proportion of

the energy demand and to reduce emissions and pollutants.

Ene8 – 2c – Lifts – the aim is to encourage the use of transportation systems, which were carefully

designed, in order to save energy.

Ene9 – 1c – Escalators and travelling walkways – the aim is to encourage the use of energy efficient

transportation systems.

Transport

Tra1 – 3c – Provision of Public Transport – the aim is to encourage the use of public transport,

indeed buildings should be placed near to good public transport networks. In this way emissions

related to individual means of transport and traffic congestion can be reduced.

Tra2 – 1c – Proximity to amenities – the aim is to locate the building near utilities like ATM, post box

or food outlet, in order to avoid long travel distances.

Tra3 – 2c – Cyclist Facilities – the aim is to encourage building occupants to use bikes instead of

cars, providing them secure bicycle storage and facilities to take shower, change or dry the wet

clothes.

Tra4 – 1c – Pedestrian and Cyclist Safety – the aim is to ensure safe and secure routes for the

pedestrians and cyclists.

Tra 5 – 1c – Travel Plan – the aim is to provide the occupants with an elaborated plan of transport,

which consider all types of travel, in order to encourage them to abandon the individual means with

high environmental impacts.

Tra 6 – 2c – Maximum Car Parking Capacity – the aim is to offer only minimum parking places for

private car, in order to encourage the use of alternative means of transport, which has lower

environmental impacts.

Water

Wat1 – 3c – Water Consumption (M) – the aim is to use sanitary fittings and cooling systems with a

water efficient technology, in order to minimize the consumption of potable water.


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Wat2 – 1c – Water Meter (M) – the aim is to install water meters on the mains water supply to be able

to monitor and manage the water consumption and thereby to reduce it.

Wat3 - 1c – Major Leak Detection – the aim is to install a leak detection system that is capable to

detect major leaks on the water supply in order to reduce the impacts from undetected leaks.

Wat4 – 1c – Sanitary Supply Shut Off – the aim is to minimize the minor leaks in toilet facilities by

installing solenoid valves on the water supply, controlled by infra – red movement detector or sensors.

Materials

Mat1 – 4c – Materials Specification (Major Building Elements) – the aim is to use for the major

building elements construction materials which has a low environmental impact over the entire life

cycle of the building.

Mat2 – 1c – Hard Landscaping and Boundary Protection – the aim is to encourage the use of

materials, with low environmental impact over their entire life cycle, for boundary protection and

external hard surfaces.

Mat3 – 1c – Re – Use of Facade – the aim is to encourage to reuse in – situ the existing building

facades.

Mat4 – 1c – Re – Use of Structure – the aim is to encourage reusing the existing structures in - situ

without significant strengthening works.

Mat5 – 3c – Responsible Sourcing of Materials – the aim is to use responsibly sourced materials, with

certifications achieved by the supplier, for the main construction elements.

Mat6 – 2c – Insulation – the aim is to achieve an insulation of the building envelope, with good

thermal properties, but realized with responsibly sourced materials with low embodied environmental

impact.

Mat7 – 1c – Designing for Robustness – the aim is to protect the vulnerable and exposed elements of

the building to pedestrian, vehicle or trolley traffic in order to minimize the damages and to reduce the

need of material replacements.

Waste

Wst1 – 4c – Construction Site Waste Management – the aim is to promote the resource efficient

construction sites, through an adequate management of the construction waste. Thereby a site waste

management plan must exist that contains target benchmark for resource efficiency, strategies for

reducing, sorting reusing and recycling of nonhazardous waste.

Wst2 – 1c – Recycled Aggregates – the aim is to encourage the use of secondary aggregates obtained

on site, from processed construction, demolition and excavation waste or from non – construction

consumer sources, in order to reduce the demand for virgin materials.

Wst3 – 1c – Recyclable Waste Storage (M) – the aim is to provide the building dedicated storage

spaces for the recyclable waste material generated during exploitation, in order to divert such waste

from landfill or incineration.


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Wst6 – 1c – Floor Finishes – the aim is to select the corresponding fitting of floor finishes for the

building occupant, in order to reduce the waste of materials.

Land Use and Ecology

LE1 – 1c – Reuse of Land – the aim is reduce the development on previously undeveloped land and to

encourage the reuse of still developed or discharged areas for building.

LE2 – 1c – Contaminated Land – the aim is to build on contaminated land which otherwise would not

have been used, in order to identify the degree and source of contamination and to take options to

remediate them.

LE3 – 1c – Ecological Value of Site and Protection of Ecological Features – the aim is to build on

land with low ecological value and to take measures in order to protect the existing features from

serious damages related to site preparation and construction activities.

LE4 – 2c – Mitigating Ecological Impact (M) – the aim is to develop but without having an impact on

the existing site ecology.

LE5 – 3c – Enhancing Site Ecology – the aim is to encourage developments that not only maintain,

but also enhance the ecological value of the site.

LE6 – 2c – Long Term Impact on Biodiversity – the aim is to fulfill mandatory criteria in order to

minimize the long term impact of the development on the local and regional biodiversity.

Pollution

Pol1 – 1c – Refrigerant GWP – Building Services – the aim is to reduce the impact of refrigerants to

climate change by no use or use of refrigerants with low global warming potential.

Pol2 – 2c – Preventing Refrigerants Leaks – the aim is to detect the leak and recover the refrigerant,

in order to reduce the environmental emissions related to leakages in the cooling plant.

Pol4 – 3c – NOx emissions from heating source – the aim is to use heating systems that has low dry

NOx levels and reduce therefore the pollution of the local environment.

Pol5 – 3c – Flood Risk – the aim is to situate the building in areas with low flood risks and to take

measures to minimize the impact of flooding on the constructions where the risks of flooding are

medium or high.

Pol6 – 1c – Minimizing Watercourse Pollution – the aim is to reduce the pollution of watercourses

with heavy metals, chemicals, oil or silt related to surface water run – off from buildings.

Pol7 – 1c – Reduction of Night Time Light Pollution – the aim is to ensure a well designed external

lighting strategy that considers an optimal use, in order to reduce unnecessary light pollution, energy

consumption and nuisance to neighboring properties.

Pol8 – 1c – Noise Attenuation – the aim is to reduce noise related to the new buildings, not to affect

the noise – sensitive buildings in the neighborhood.


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Innovation

Inn1 – 10c – Innovation – the aim is to provide additional issues in the field of sustainability, beside

the ones recognised and rewarded within standard BREEAM issues or to achieve excellent

performances for the existing issues.

3.3.3. Evaluation

The BREEAM rating is determined by a number of elements such as the BREEAM rating

benchmarks, minimum BREEAM standards, environmental weightings and credits for Innovation.

The rating benchmarks for BREEAM 2010 is shown in Table 7 and is applicable to new

buildings, major refurbishments and where possible to fit – out projects.

Table 7BREEAM 2010 rating benchmarks

BREEAM Rating % Score

Unclassified <30

Pass ≥30

Good ≥45

Very Good ≥55

Excellent ≥70

Outstanding ≥85

To achieve a BREEAM rating of any level, mandatory credits has to be met for different

criteria, complied with the rating level, as shown in Table 8.

Table 8Minimum BREEAM standards

Pass Good Very Good Excellent Outstanding

Man 1 – 1c Man 1 – 1c Man 1 – 1c Man 1 – 1c Man 1 – 2c

Hea 4 – 1c Hea 4 – 1c Hea 4 – 1c Hea 4 – 1c Hea 4 – 1c

Hea 12 – 1c Hea 12 – 1c Hea 12 – 1c Hea 12 – 1c Hea 12 – 1c

Wat 1 – 1c Wat 1 – 1c Wat 1 – 1c Wat 1 – 2c

Wat 2 – 1c Wat 2 – 1c Wat 2 – 1c Wat 2 – 1c

Ene 2 – 1c Ene 2 – 1c Ene 2 – 1c

LE 4 – 1c LE 4 – 1c LE 4 – 1c

Man 2 – 1c Man 2 – 2c

Man 4 – 1c Man 4 – 1c

Ene 1 – 6c Ene 1 – 10c

Ene 5 – 1c Ene 5 – 1c

Wst 3 – 1c Wst 3 – 1c


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Beside the regular credits, additional innovation credits can be provided for a building. The

innovation credits are rewarded for buildings with excellent performances in the field of

sustainability, above and beyond the current level available and recognized in the BREEAM issues.

An additional 1% score can be added to the final score for each innovation credit achieved. Maximum

innovation credits assessable are 10, so maximum 10% can be awarded to the final BREEAM rating.

The way in which a building can achieve innovation credits is shown at section ―Innovation”.

The final rating is calculated by a BREEAM assessor using the BREEAM Assessor‘s

Spreadsheet Tool and associated calculators. 5 steps have to be done to determine the BREEAM

rating level:

1. The number of credits for each BREEAM category are determined;

2. The percentage of the achieved credits are calculated for each BREEAM category;

3. The percentage achieved in step 2 is weighted with the corresponding section weighting,

obtaining the category score;

4. The category scores are summarized to give the overall BREEAM score, which is compared

to the benchmarks in Table 7 and verified if all minimum standards for the complied level are

met;

5. Additional innovation scores can be added to the final score.

To achieve an Outstanding BREEAM rating level, the building must achieve a final score

≥85% , has to meet the mandatory standards for this rating level and must provide material for

the production and publication of a case study on the Outstanding related building. In addition

the building has to obtain a BREEAM in Use Certification of Performance within the first three

years of operation and use in order to keep this rating.


42

4 Author’s Proposals for the Building Sustainability

A measurement of sustainability must combine the individual and collective actions to sustain

the environment as well as to improve the economy and satisfy societal needs [22], [66].

The sustainability of buildings is a very complex issue. It includes a lot of factors with clear

defined relations. The authors proposed a structure of the building sustainability, which shows its

main components and their connections. This structure is defined by five major components:

principle, goals, dimensions, requirements and the life cycle phases. Fig. 3 shows the complete

structure.

Current studies, researches and developments are mostly related to sustainability. This is the

principle that has to be followed by all our activities. Elkington (1977) [17] developed the principle of

the triple bottom line and refers to the social, environmental and financial performance, which are

directly tied to the concept and goal of sustainable development.

The goals of sustainable development are the actual and the future generation, as according to

the definition of the Brundtland Report. The three dimensions are: ecological, economic and social, as

it is visible on figure 1, where sustainability is represented at the confluence of these three pillars.

These first three components are generally available for all the domains, independent on the

area of activity. The particularities of the construction sector in general are characterized by the

requirements and criteria that buildings have to meet trough their life cycle phases. For this reason

sustainability is appreciated as a management tool which evaluates the ecological, economic and

social concerns related to new or existing constructions.

Being considered a decision making support tool, the requirements and criteria have to be

evaluated and materialized either at a specific phase or through the entire life cycle in order to be able

to appreciate and determine the sustainability of a building.

The authors proposed two evaluation models, a global and a specific one, which help to

determine the sustainability index of a building. In the following chapters the models are described in

detail and are also exemplified on case studies.


43

Figure 3Structure of building sustainability

4.1. Global model

The global model is an evaluation tool, which combine the specific requirements of the three

dimensions. It is based on a scoring system but the data used for accordance of points can be either

qualitative or quantitative.

To materialize the effects of the specific requirements, each of them is quantified with a

score. The scores are accorded in function of calculated or evaluated value of each criterion. Table 9

shows all the requirements with their corresponding scores.

The sum of the scores is 100 for each dimension, but they represent different percentages

from the global score. So the ecological part contributes with 40% and the economic respectively

social part with 30%.


44

The sustainability is obtained with a simple equation:

BSI=0.4xE +0.3xF + 0.3xP (1)

Measurement is based on a point awarding system and the total score obtained for the

evaluation reflects the performance of a building in achieving sustainable goals.

Table 9Topics and scores of the global model

Buil

din

g S

ust

ainab

ilit

y I

ndex

Criteria Nr. of points from

each dimension Weighting Nr. of points (%)

from entire model

En

vir

on

men

t

Initial embodied energy 20p

40%

(0.4)

8.0

Operational energy 20p 8.0

Envelope 20p 8.0

Renewable energy 8p 3.2

Water consumption 12p 4.8

Recycled materials 8p 3.2

Renewable materials 4p 1.6

Waste generation 4p 1.6

Heat island effect 4p 1.6

TOTAL 100p 40p

Eco

nom

ic

Initial costs 25p

30%

(0.3)

7.5

Operational costs 25p 7.5

Erection time 15p 4.5

Long service life 17p 5.1

Ease of Cleaning and

Maintenance of the Structure 8p 2.4

Construction site and project

management 10p 3.0

TOTAL 100p 30p

So

cial

Thermal comfort 16p

30%

(0.3)

4.8

Daylight 8p 2.4

Air quality 8p 2.4

Noise and acoustic comfort 8p 2.4

Structure safety 20p 6.0

Fire protection 15p 4.5

Adaptability and area efficiency 15p 4.5

System efficiency and control 10p 3.0

TOTAL 100p 30p

For a better understanding of each requirement, here comes an explanation what they refer to

and how the scores are given:


45

Environment

Initial embodied energy – 20p – the aim is to reduce the initial embodied energy and the emissions of

CO2 related to the extraction, manufacturing, transport and demolition of building materials. The

accordance of points is based on the energy demand per square meter of built area. In general the total

initial energy incorporated in a building is a function of the main structural material. So buildings with

a timber framed structure can obtain maximum points, followed by reinforced concrete, masonry and

steel structures. For exact evaluation calculations have to be done.

Operational energy – 20p – the aim is to reduce the operational energy consumption and the CO2

emissions associated with them. This parameter is related to the energy consumption for heating,

cooling, air conditioning, hot water, refrigeration and lighting during the service life of the building. It

can be evaluated in function of the necessary energy demand compared to the target value the

building, taken from the Energy Performance certificate. Benchmarks have to be set in order to accord

the credit points.

Envelope – 20p – the aim is to minimize the energy demand for the space conditioning, to assure high

thermal comfort and to avoid structural damage. Therefore materials with high quality shall be used

for external walls, roofs and floors. The building envelope can be evaluated based on proper

parameters like: Average heat transmission coefficient, Permeability, Air change rate, etc. If the

envelope meets the minimum requirements 10points can be allocated. Additional points will we

rewarded proportional.

Renewable energy – 8p – the aim is to encourage the use of renewable energy sources as solar, wind,

geothermal, etc. in order to supply a part of the nonrenewable energy. In this way environmental and

economic impacts related to fossil fuel energy sources can be reduced. For a percentage of 24%

renewable energy used, the maximum points will be allocated.

Water consumption – 12p – the aim is to reduce the on – site and indoor potable water consumption

from all sources, through the use of water efficient fittings, appliances and water recycling systems.

Up to 12 points are awarded for achieving the performance target. The calculations are based on the

predicted average water consumption calculated in liter/person/day but also on the initial water

consume for the erection of the building.

Recycled materials – 8p – the aim is to reduce the environmental and economic impacts related to

extraction and manufacturing of virgin materials. For materials with a recycled content of at least 24%

the maximum points will be allocated.

Renewable materials – 4p – the aim is to reduce the consumption and depletion of finite raw materials

and long-cycle renewable materials by replacing them with rapidly renewable materials. This kind of

materials are made from plants that are typically harvested within a 10-year or shorter cycle. On the

other hand, major construction materials can be reused after demolition in the composition of new

materials. If at least 8% of the total amount is renewable materials or 100% of the main structural

materials can be reused, 4 points are allocated.


46

Waste generation – 4p – the aim is to reduce waste generation, related to construction site works and

to assure an efficient waste management plan. The plan must include measures which diverts

construction and demolition debris from disposal in landfills and incineration facilities. One criterion

for the allocation of points is based on the quantity of waste generated on site during construction and

the second criterion is related to the existence of a waste management plan.

Heat island effect – 4p – the aim is to reduce the impact on microclimate and human environment.

The type of roof and façade materials plays an important role in the enhancement of the heat island

effect. Roofing materials with a high solar reflectance index (SRI) will be scored with 4 points.

Economic

Initial costs – 25p – the aim is to reduce the overall costs of a building. Initial costs are related to the

manufacturing of building materials, transport and manpower, but also to the acquisition of the

installation systems. For a new building the initial costs are expressed in Euro/ square meter floor

area. Higher initial costs resulting from the investment in materials or systems with better quality may

be recovered during the operation stage. Benchmark values have to be set for different types of

buildings and the points can be accorded proportional.

Operational costs – 25p – operational costs are as important as the initial costs. They are in strong

relation with the operational energy consumption. The less energy is consumed for heating and

cooling the less money is paid for the bills. Beside this, the costs for maintenance and minor

reparations also contribute to the overall cost. Life cycle cost analysis has to be performed in order to

evaluate the expenditures and to find alternatives to improve the cost effectiveness. Points will be

allocated if the reduction of operational costs, due to low energy consume and proper material

selection, are proved.

Erection time – 15p – beside good price and high quality the erection time is also very important for

the beneficiary. The aim is to encourage the acceleration of construction works, but without affecting

their quality. Buildings using prefabricated elements reduce the erection time, so maximum points can

be accorded.

Long service life – 17p – the aim is to realize buildings with long service life, in order to reduce all the

impacts related to new constructions. It represents the life span of a building, or in case of

rehabilitation the increase of its resistance. Typically the life span of a building is assumed to be 50

years without any refurbishments. In such circumstances the masonry and RC structures used to have

a longer service life, so they get the maximum of 17p.

Ease of Cleaning and Maintenance of the Structure – 8p – the aim is to extend the useful lifetime of

building parts and layers of building parts, which can lead to lower maintenance costs. Proper

documentation and a good technical planning of the building are needed to enable efficient cleaning

and maintenance. If a user guide and instructions for maintenance and operations are available, 8

points can be allocated.


47

Construction site and project management – 10p – the aim is assure an environmental friendly

construction site and a well prepared project. To protect the environment and the health of all

participants, construction sites must fulfill some important criteria: low waste, noise and dust

generation. Proper documentation and plans has to be realized which take measures in order to limit

this aspects. On the other side, in order to achieve a quality work, all the design projects have to be

prepared optimally. An integral planning, which considers the entire life cycle of a building, is

necessary to be realized. Already in the design stage the quality has to be guaranteed by a complex

planning that includes issues about energy, water, waste, and other aspects related to sustainability,

but also offers alternative comparisons. If all the documentation exists 10 points can be accorded.

Social

Thermal comfort – 16p – the aim is assure an optimal thermal comfort for the occupants of the

building. The main criteria which are needed to evaluate thermal comfort are: inner temperature,

relative humidity, thermal gradient, air change. In this sense the envelope plays an important role

because of its insulation, permeability and air tightness properties, but also the heating and cooling

systems should be taken in consideration. The points will be accorded in function of the calculated

PMV (Predicted mean vote) and PPD (Predicted percentage of dissatisfied)

Daylight – 8p – the aim is to let natural lighting inside the building. In this way the monotony of the

indoor environment can be disrupted and the consumption of electricity for lightning systems can also

be reduced. Points will be allocated in function of the average daylight factor achieved in each room

of the building. For example, a building, with an average daylight factor of 6% and direct access to

natural light in each room, will gain 8 points.

Air quality – 8p – the aim is to assure a good indoor air quality for the buildings‘ occupants. In order

to provide a good air quality, the materials used for finishing, paintings, adhesives and coatings must

be odourless and with low emissions of volatile organic compounds VOCs. Another important factor

is related to the ventilation systems. They have to provide a good air circulation, in order to eliminate

all the unwanted smells and contaminants and to bring in fresh air. The points will be allocated in

function of the total volatile organic compounds TVOCs concentration, which is based either on

measurements or on product documentation and on the documentation of the ventilation systems.

Noise and acoustic comfort – 8p – the aim is to create proper conditions assuring low level of

interference and background noise. On the other hand it is also important to reduce the noise related to

new buildings which can affect other buildings in the neighborhood. Two important parameters are

evaluated: the airborne sound insulation values and the impact sound insulation values. These can be

determined either by testing or by Robust Details. Maximum points will be allocated for buildings

which improve the values set in the performance standards. For example, if the airborne sound

insulation value is with 9dB higher and the impact sound insulation value with 9dB lower, 8 points

will be allocated.


48

Structure safety – 20p – the aim is to protect the building occupants in case of extreme situations.

After an earthquake most of the buildings will suffer some damages. The appearance of

displacements, cracks or deflections in the building elements can lead to the destruction of the

building. Structures have to be designed in such way, that they does not collapse under extreme loads.

To analyze their safety they will be evaluated after specific standards. For existing structures built

before 1970, as well for strengthening structures, the resistance to all actions (including extreme

loads) should be over a minimum limit value, to be considered as safety. The failure probability Pf or

reliability index βE can be considered as main parameters. For an optimal value of Pf = 10-6

or βE=

4.75 the maximum of 20 points will be allocated.

Fire protection – 15p – the aim is to protect the occupants from the fire in buildings and from the

toxic smoke caused by the fire. To allocate points, the quality of fire protection measures should be

increased. The fire resistance of each element has to be in accordance with the performance standards,

but also other issues as alarm, sprinkler, smoke evacuation systems and evacuation plans has to be

taken in consideration. Generally masonry and concrete structure have a good fire resistance, while

steel and wooden structures need additional coatings to assure the performance targets. This can lead

to additional costs and emissions due the increased use of materials.

Adaptability and area efficiency – 15p – the aim is to design buildings which can be adapted to

different requirements and destinations without high investments. It is important to create structures

with high area efficiency, flexibility and adaptability. A good adaptability offers the possibility to

modify the inner architecture, in order to have an optimal place use. The buildings with framed

structures may get a maximum score (15p) for adaptability, because the separation walls can be

placed optional, without risking the structure safety.

System efficiency and control – 14p – the aim is to provide systems with high efficiency in order to

reduce the impacts related to their use and to assure an optimal control of these systems for the

buildings occupants. All energy systems should be in accordance to the CEE directives and should

present an energetic certificate. On the other hand, heating, lighting and cooling systems should be

provided with individual controls in order to be adjustable for personal needs and preferences.

Maximum points will be allocated if the optimum values for each criterion are met. The

optimal reference values are given in Table 12, as an example applied to a family dwelling.

Achieving these targets would result in an ideal solution, which would meat all the sustainability

performances of a building. The values presented in the example are only indicative and may be

different from case to case.

Compared to the other certification tools, the global model proposed by the authors has the

aim to ease the decision making of a civil engineer. The criteria evaluated in the global model are

mostly related to the tasks that a civil engineer has to do. Other aspects, like site selection and

architectural value of site are also important, but not for a civil engineer. Architects, ecologist and


49

structural engineers have to collaborate in order to take the optimal solution. The authors considered

that the decision regarded to the requirements presented before are strongly related to the civil

engineer, even if in some aspects consulting may be necessary.

A comparison has been realized between the three certification tools (DGNB, LEED and

BREEAM) and the global model. The aim of the study was to see how these models consider the

three pillars of sustainability (ecological, economic and social) and in which way these are in a civil

engineer approach. Table 10 shows the results.

Table 10 Comparison of the evaluation models

Model\Dimension Ecological Economic Social Total

DGNB 29.2% 31.3% 21.8% 82.3%

LEED 58% - 18% 76%

BREEAM 49.85 10.8 23.82 78.22%

Global model 40% 30% 30% 100%

4.2. Specific model

A building sustainability index S, based on the global model presented in the previous chapter

has been established. The building sustainability index includes the quantification of measurable

objectives that characterize the full life cycle of buildings. To combine the effects of the three

dimensions – ecological, economic and social, on the entire building sustainability, a simple

quantitative equation has been proposed [7], [8]. Similar approach has been proposed also by other

authors [22]:

P

P

F

F

E

ESSSBSI

R

p

R

f

R

epfe (2)

Where:

BSI – building sustainability index;

Se, Sf, Sp, - building sustainability indexes for the ecological, economic and social dimensions;

αe, αf, αp, - coefficients indicating the percentage of participation to the building sustainability

of the three dimensions;

ER, F

R, P

R, - reference values for the components of the ecological, economic and social

dimensions;

E, F, P – the values of the components taken into account for the three dimensions.

To calculate the absolute quantities from formula (1) there is necessary to split each term in

measurable values.

For instance the building sustainability index for the ecological dimension can be considered as

follows:


50

e

Re

ebRl

lec

R

ew

n

Rn

eneB

B

M

M

W

W

E

ES (3)

With the correlation:

αe= αen+αew+αem+αeb ( 4)

where:

R

nE and En – total embodied energy (initial and operational) of the reference and studied

building;

WR and W – water consumption of a reference and studied building;

RlM and Ml – renewable materials used by the reference and studied building;

R

eB and Be – specific parameters of the reference and studied building envelope

αen,αew,αem,αeb – coefficients indicating the percentage of participation to the building

sustainability of the total energy, water consumption, renewable materials and building envelope.

The building sustainability index for the economic dimension can be considered as follows:

Rfl

R

ft

R

fcfL

L

T

T

C

CS (5)

With the correlation

αf= αfc+αft+αfl (6)

where:

CR and C – total costs (initial and operational) of a reference and studied building;

TT

and T – the erection time of a reference and studied building;

LR and L – long service life of the reference building as compared with the studied building;

αfc+αft+αfl – coefficients indicating the percentage of participation to the building

sustainability of the total costs, erection time and long service life.

The building sustainability index for the social dimension can be considered as follows:

Rpf

R

prRpq

h

R

hpthp

F

F

R

R

Q

Q

T

TS (7)

With

αp= αpt+αpq+αpr+αpf (8)

where:

R

hT and Th – thermal comfort for a reference and studied building;

QR and Q – includes the interior comfort (daylight, air quality, noise and acoustic comfort) of

a reference and studied building;

RR and R – structure safety of a reference and studied building;


51

FR and F – fire protection of a reference and studied building;

αpt+αpq+αpr+αpf - coefficients indicating the percentage of participation to the building

sustainability of the thermal comfort, interior comfort, structure safety and fire protection.

The reference values ER, F

R and P

R can be taken either as the minimum values of the

calculated solutions or as optimal and mandatory values according to standards or other sources.

The distribution of the coefficients was established arbitrary, in function of the importance of

the parameters:

αe =40% (0.4); αf =30% (0.4); αp =30% (0.3); (9)

For an analysis with smaller number of measurable values than it has been presented (4 for

ecological, 3 for economic and 4 for social dimension) the sum of coefficients indicating the

percentage of participation will be the same as for all number of values (see 9).

In accordance with the global model the specific coefficients are:

αe= αen+αew+αec+αeb = 0.2 + 0.05 +0.05 + 0.1 = 0.4 (10)

αf= αfc+αft+αfl = 0.18 + 0.05 + 0.07 = 0.3 (11)

αp= αpt+αpq+αpr+αpf = 0.07 + 0.09 + 0.08 + 0.06 = 0.3 (12)

The building sustainability index BSI, presented, is a way to use multiple criteria in relation to

project decision – making. Even for smaller number of measurable values, using the BSI will simplify

the appreciation of sustainable development and will confer a positive contribution to obtain optimum

design solutions and facility operations.


52

4.3. Application of the evaluation models

4.3.1. Family Dwelling

In order to exemplify the two evaluation models a case study has been realized on a typical

family dwelling, with 256.7 m2 floor area on a semi-basement, ground floor and attic (Fig 4). Two

alternative external wall systems have been used, in order to realize a comparison.

Figure 4Example House

The first alternative house design was realized with a masonry frame structure with and

external wall system composed of Autoclaved Aerated Concrete Brick of 35cm thickness and a

Polystyrene layer of 5 cm as thermal insulation (Fig 5a).

The second alternative is also a masonry frame structure, but the external wall system is a

modern system, known as Argisol. The system is composed of two layers of Polystyrene of 5cm,

which also play the role of form for the concrete (Fig 5b) and a resistance structure of 25 cm

reinforced concrete wall.

a) b)

Figure 5 Wall Systems

The materials and their initial embodied energy, which were different for the two alternatives,

are summarized in Table 11. The values for the embodied energy were taken from two free available

databases‘ and have been calculated manually [67], [68].


53

Table 11Amount of materials required for each external wall alternative

Alternative 1

Autoclaved Aerated Concrete Brick Wall (ACBW)

Alternative 2

Polystyrene layer with RC Wall (PRCW)

Material Quantity

[kg]

Energy

[MJ/kg]

Total

Energy

[MJ]

Material Quantity

[kg]

Energy

[MJ/kg]

Total

Energy

[MJ]

Portland

cement

2295 4.6 10557 Cement 16918 3.52 59551

Cement fly ash 2350 3.52 8272 Lime paste 490 4.62 2264

Lime paste 1820 4.62 8408 Gypsum 35 3.2 112

Hydrated lime 975 1.39 1355 Aggregate 40260 0.035 1409

Simple lime 104 4.31 448 Sand 53200 0.055 2926

Gypsum 35 3.2 112 Water 22000 0.0055 121

Aggregate 5600 0.035 196 Steel 1202 29.5 35459

Sand 29250 0.055 1608 Polystyrene 310 106 32860

Water 14000 0.0055 77 Energy

[kWh]

53.15 3.6 192

Steel 584 29.5 17228

Polystyrene 162 106 17172

AAC Brick 48000 3.5 168000

Bitumen 522 53 27666

Energy [kWh] 18 3.6 64.8

Total = 261 165 MJ Total = 134 893 MJ

The application of the global model has been made based on either quantitative or qualitative

determined values of the criteria. In Table 12 the summary of the accorded scores for each criterion

are presented. There are also some reference values, which will be used for the calculation of the BSI

applying the specific model.

Applying formula (1), the building sustainability indexes are obtained as followed:

BSI1= 0.4x68 + 0.3x71.7 + 0.3x56.6 = 65.7%

BSI2= 0.4x63.5 + 0.3x74.8 + 0.3x58.6 = 65.42%


54

Table 12 Application of the global model

Alternative 1 (ACBW) Alternative 2 (PRCW)

Criteria Reference

Value

Calculated

value

Accorded

points

Calculated

value

Accorded

points

Eco

logic

al

Initial embodied

energy

3000

[MJ/m2]

4762 [MJ/m2] 12p 4310 [MJ/m

2] 14p

Operational

energy

20000

MJ/m2/50y

25020

MJ/m2/50y

16p 255560

MJ/m2/50y

15p

Envelope <0.20

W/m2K

0.26

W/m2K

18p 0.35

W/m2K

14p

Renewable

energy 24% 0% 0p 0% 0p

Water

consumption

(Initial,

operational)

300 l/m2+

120 l/p/d

366 l/m2+

90 l/p/d 10p

398 l/m2+

90 l/p/d 9p

Recycled

materials 24% 0% 0p 0% 0p

Renewable

materials 100% 85% 8.5p 80% 8p

Waste

generation No Values Plan incomplete 2p Plan incomplete 2p

Heat island

effect SRI=100 SRI = 36 1.50 SRI = 36 1.50

TOTAL 68p 63.5p

Eco

nom

ic

Initial costs 300€/m2 571€/m

2 13p 525€/m

2 14p

Operational

costs

3000

€/m2/50y

3475

€/m2/50y

22p 3550

€/m2/50y

21p

Erection time 50days 75 days 10 69 days 12

Long service life 80 years 55 years 11.7p 60 years 12.8p

Ease of Cleaning

and Maintenance

of the Structure

- Available

instructions 7p

Available

instructions 7p

Construction site

and project

management

- Incomplete

project 8p

Incomplete

project 8p

Total 71.7p 74.8p

So

cial

Thermal comfort PPD, PMV

5%,

[-0.5,0.5]

PPD, PMV

6.9%, -0.3 11.6p

PPD, PMV

6.9%, -0.3 11.6p

Daylight ADF

6%

ADF

2.88% 4p

ADF

2.88% 4p

Air quality TVOC

100µg

TVOC

250µg 4p

TVOC

250µg 4p

Noise and

acoustic comfort

54dB

51dB

48dB

59dB 3p

48dB

59dB 3p

Structure safety βE=4.75 βE=3.72 14p βE=4.0 16p

Fire protection 360 min 240 min 5p 240 min 5p

Adaptability and

area efficiency Modular Inefficient 5p Inefficient 5p

System efficiency

and control - Efficient 10p Efficient 10p

Total 56.6p 58.6p

To determine the sustainability index with the specific model, we used formula (2), (3), (5), (7),

(9) and the values from Table 12.


55

3.026.0

2.01.0

100

8505.0

366

30005.0

25020

200001.0

4756

30001.0

1

e

Re

ebRl

lec

R

ew

n

Rn

eneB

B

M

M

W

W

E

ES

2.080

5507.0

75

5005.0

3475

300009.0

571

30009.01

Rfl

R

ft

R

fcfL

L

T

T

C

CS

2.0360

24006.0

100

7008.0

250

100

54

48

6

88.203.0

9.6

507.0

1

Rpf

R

prRpq

h

R

hpthp

F

F

R

R

Q

Q

T

TS

7.02.02.03.01111 pfe SSSBSI

28.035.0

2.01.0

100

8005.0

398

30005.0

25560

200001.0

4310

30001.0

2

e

Re

ebRl

lec

R

ew

n

Rn

eneB

B

M

M

W

W

E

ES

21.080

6007.0

69

5005.0

3550

300009.0

525

30009.02

Rfl

R

ft

R

fcfL

L

T

T

C

CS

21.0360

24006.0

100

8008.0

250

100

54

48

6

88.203.0

9.6

507.0

2

Rpf

R

prRpq

h

R

hpthp

F

F

R

R

Q

Q

T

TS

7.021.021.028.02222 pfe SSSBSI

In Fig. 6 the comparison of the results determined with the two evaluation models can be

seen:

.

Figure 6Comparison of results applying the two models


56

4.3.2. Strengthened element

The sustainability of strengthening solutions was very little discussed as compared with the

sustainability of new buildings. Four strengthening solutions will be analyzed in the paper (Fig.7).

The consolidated element is an existing RC column with the length of 8 m and a cross section of

600x600 mm. The rehabilitation solutions are:

- The coating by reinforced concrete with 150 mm concrete depth and 3Ф20 mm rebar on each

side and stirrups Ф8/150 mm;

- Steel bracing with four angle irons of 80x80x8 mm, connected by flange plates of 100x8 mm

at 500 mm distance;

- Carbon fiber polymer composites (CFRP) as it is illustrated in Figure 2 with two variants:

- CFRP lamellas (strips) in longitudinal direction and CFRP sheets (wraps) in

transversal direction;

- CFRP sheets in both longitudinal and transversal directions.

Lamellas are with the cross section of 100x1.2 mm (two lamellas on each side) and CFRP

sheets of 600x0.38 mm (one sheet on each side) [15], [1].

Figure 7 Strengthening solutions for a RC column


57

The calculated characteristics of the four strengthening solutions were: the value of the

increasing bending moment M, due to strengthening; the total cost of strengthening solution at the

level of year 2008; the total energy or conventional fuel for each solution; consolidation time. The

results of the analysis are presented in Table 13 and Fig. 8

Table 13Main characteristics of strengthening solutions

Calculated characteristics

Strengthening by coating with

Reinforced

concrete

Steel

profiles

Carbon fibers Sheets Lamellas + Sheets

Increase of the bending moment

due to strengthening M, [kNm] 220* 235* 194.5**/ 444.7 194.5**/ 444.7

Total cost of strengthening

solutions, [€] 1633 1342 1158 2878

Embodied energy for

strengthening solutions [MJ] 9555 9457 1414 2268

Consolidation time, [man-hours] 116 69▲ 24

▲ 24

▲

Sustainability index, BSI 0.299 0.329 0.737 0.484

Notes: * Bending moment at ultimate stage (failure/yield of strengthening material)

** Bending moment at maximum strain of compressive concrete

▲ 16 man-hours for surface preparation before strengthening

Figure 8Sustainability index of strengthening solutions

The main conclusions from this data are:

- The more sustainable solution is the strengthening with CFRP – sheets in both directions, be-

cause of the minimum cost of strengthening, energy enclosed and consolidation time.

- The strengthening by CFRP (lamellas and sheets) is sustainable too, due to small energy en-

closed and minimum consolidation time, but the cost is higher.

- The strengthening by RC coating and steel bracing are not sustainable solutions due to high

energy incorporated and big consolidation time at a cost comparable with the solution CFRP

– sheets.


58

5 Conclusions

Some important aspects concerning building sustainability were presented and underlined in

this book.

In the first part of the book the concept of sustainable development and its position in the

scientific world is discussed and developed. Sustainable development concerns attitude and judgment

to help insure long term ecological, economic and social growth in the domains of climate,

biodiversity, energy, health, agriculture and others.

Construction is one of the largest users of resources and largest polluters of the natural and

human environment. Due to this fact a voluntary certification system has been proposed in 1990,

which evaluate the sustainable performances of buildings. The development and promotion of

sustainability in the planning, construction and operation process of a building have been developed in

a lot of countries. The main aspects and steps of three certificates for building sustainability (DGNB,

LEED and BREEAM) have been presented in detail. A comparison between the certification tools has

been realized and some important ideas can be underlined:

- The certificates have as target predominantly the new constructions, without

specifications for existing buildings or rehabilitation solutions;

- Some of the certificates do not take in consideration important issues like life cycle

costs and/or technical problems;

- The certificates are mainly qualitative criteria, which do evaluate difficult a building,

because the assessment of building performances include both qualitative and quantitative

aspects;

- For most of the certificates it is not very clear the way in which the points are

awarded for each criterion;

In the second part of the book some important aspects concerning building sustainability were

presented. The authors presented a structure of building sustainability in function of its goals,

dimensions, requirements and phases. Based on this structure two evaluation models have been

proposed, which evaluate the grade of sustainability.

The first one is a global model based on a scoring system for each dimension: ecological,

economic and social. This model was created for a civil engineer approach and includes both new

constructions and strengthening of existing buildings. On the other hand, the model includes both

qualitative and quantitative aspects of the main criteria, which characterize a building; the maximum

number of points awarded for each criterion is also suggested which can lead to an ideal sustainable

building.

The second model, based on a simple formula, which takes into account numerical values, is

also presented: the Building Sustainability Index (BSI). It is based on a multiple dimensional model

that refers to environmental, economic and social issues. This model embraces all advantages


59

presented for the global model and supplementary includes the quantification of main measures that

give a full life cycle analysis of buildings: embodied energy, function of the envelope, water

consumption, life cycle costs, erection time, long service life, protection of health, structure safety,

fire protection, etc. These requirements (criteria) represent over 80% of the total requirements

included into building sustainability. The BSI is the most facile instrument to obtain the most

sustainable solution for a refurbishment of existing buildings.

The two evaluation models were applied on a typical family dwelling, with two different

solutions for the external wall systems and on one strengthened element with four rehabilitation

solutions.

According to both models the two alternative solutions presented similar sustainable

performances and the final BSIs were almost equal.

The results of the specific model applied on the strengthening solution showed that the most

sustainable solution is the one with CFRP materials (sheet and/or lamellas) with the BSI of 0.737 and

0.484; the strengthening by RC coating and steel bracing proved to be less sustainable with a BSI of

0.299 and 0.329.

Acknowledgement

This work was partially supported by the strategic grant POSDRU/88/1.5/S/50783, Project

ID50783 (2009), co-financed by the European Social Fund – Investing in People, within the Sectoral

Operational Programme Human Resources Development 2007 – 2013.


60

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