Page 20 - European Energy Innovation - Summer 2017 publication
P. 20

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.
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