Participation at the Round Table Building for Future [prev. Sustainable Building and Ressource Efficiency] at the Federal Ministry for Housing, Urban Development and Building with Expertise on Life Cycle and Sustainability Assessment

Lead Institute HF Institute of Wood Research

Since several years, the German federal government has been working to implement the concept of sustainability in the construction sector: we are involved in this as part of the Round Table on Building for Future (formerly Sustainable Building and Resource Efficiency) and provide expertise in the field of life cycle assessment and sustainability evaluation.

Background and Objective

The goal of sustainable building is to comprehensively assess the environmental impact of buildings and to evaluate them for the sake of certification. The sustainability assessment of construction works over their entire life cycle has become increasingly important in recent years. This is reflected in the international standards for sustainable building and the establishment of the German evaluation system for sustainable building for federal buildings (BNB).

The impact assessment of buildings on the environment is essentially based on the classic impact categories of life cycle assessment (LCA) method. Their results are the core component of environmental product declarations (type III environmental labels) and are provided by manufacturers and associations of the building materials industry in order to enable a holistic assessment of buildings.

Approach

We participate in the Round Table meetings, initiated by the German Federal Ministry for Housing, Urban Development and Building and coordinated by the Federal Institute for Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Research (BBSR) in the Federal Office for Building and Regional Planning (BBR).

It brings together the stakeholders of the sector to assist the ministry in sustainable building issues and to advise on the further development and establishment of the German evaluation system for sustainable building for federal buildings.