BNB – Assessment system for sustainable building

What is BNB?

The Assessment System for Sustainable Building (BNB) is an instrument for planning and assessing sustainable building projects, particularly in the public sector. It supplements the Guide to sustainable building of the Federal Ministry of Housing, Urban Development and Building (BMWSB) and offers a holistic assessment methodology for (federal) buildings and their surroundings. In a two-year collaboration between the Federal Ministry of Building and the DGNB, the first criteria catalog for the Sustainable Building Assessment System was developed based on the requirements of the guidelines.

The system is not only used for the final assessment, but also for quality assurance during the planning and construction phase. The sustainability criteria of the BNB should therefore already be used during project planning as orientation for the target agreement of a construction project. This ensures that the system requirements are also implemented during the construction phase.

Trained BNB sustainability coordinators provide advice and compile the documents required for the assessment.

Assessment System for Sustainable Building (BNB) – a holistic approach:

The BNB takes into account the entire life cycle of a building and assesses the following qualities and characteristics:

• • Ecological quality: Environmental compatibility and resource conservation.
  • Economic quality: Life cycle costs and economic efficiency.
  • Socio-cultural quality: User comfort, health and cultural aspects.
  • Technical quality: Functionality and technical design.
  • Process quality: Planning and construction processes.
  • Site characteristics: special site characteristics, informative description without influence on the overall result.

This comprehensive approach aims to achieve the ecological, economic and social protection goals of of sustainable building, i.e. to protect general goods such as the environment, resources, health, culture and capital.

For which projects can the Sustainable Building Assessment System be used?

The Guideline for Sustainable Building and the BNB were developed for federal buildings and are mandatory for all construction projects of the Federal Building Ministry.

However, the Guideline and the Assessment System for Sustainable Building may also be used free of charge by federal states, local authorities or the private sector as a basis for sustainable planning.

In principle, the requirements of the BNB apply equally to all building types, but system variants for different types of use have been developed for use-specific features. Variants are currently available for Office and administration building, classroom buildings, laboratory buildings and outdoor facilities available. In addition, modules for New construction, complete modernization and utilization and operation to enable continuous evaluation in different life cycle phases.

Appropriate BNB application

A special feature of the Assessment System for Sustainable Building is the option of “analogous BNB application” for building projects that cannot be assigned to any of the BNB system variants. For this purpose, the criteria are checked individually for their applicability at the beginning and adapted if necessary. In this way, measures to maintain the protection goals can still be defined and used as a guide during the project. The BMWSB has published the alternative procedures to be used for verification.

How does certification with the Sustainable Building Assessment System work?

1. Definition of target values for building quality based on the BNB criteria
2. Coordination and optimization in the planning team
3. Interim assessments of the planning status based on the BNB criteria
4. Planning and construction documentation on the BNB criteria / qualities achieved
5. Verification by conformity testing body
6. Award of the BNB certificate

For federal buildings, separate sustainability coordinators and conformity testing bodies are responsible for implementing the Guideline for Sustainable Building and the BNB. For other building projects, for example at state or municipal level, certifications are carried out by recognized system operators or certification bodies. A current list of accredited bodies can be found on the Website of the Federal Building Ministry.

Sources: https://www.bnb-nachhaltigesbauen.de/bewertungssystem.html