Page 8 - European Energy Innovation - winter 2017 publication

SUSTAINABLE CONSTRUCTION
How does it work?

Mr Schneider is an architect and he has designed Mrs Fischer is an auditor for a building certi cation system.
an o ce building for Mrs Müller, who would like her Her job is to carry out all of the calculations and documentation
necessary for certi cation.
building to receive a sustainability certi cate.
Building certi cation schemes CERTIFICATION OF BUILDINGS
generally di erentiate between a
building’s ecological, economic,
and sociocultural qualities. Each
of these areas is systematically
evaluated according to standar-
dised criteria.

Let’s look at an example: Environmental protection is very For Mrs Fischer to be able to assess this, she will need to
important to Mrs Müller. For her, the ecological quality of her create a life-cycle assessment for the building.
building is the most important consideration.
LCA Sustainability

A life-cycle assessment is an internationally recognised,
standardised method for analysing the potential environmental
impact of processes, products, and even entire buildings –
because sustainability cannot be broken down to just a single
number, such as CO2 emissions.