Borja Izaola is the Project Manager at GBCe (Green Building Council Espaa). She shares what we need about sustainable buildings.
Imagine a different building. It has been there since 1944. It has been a source of comfort for three generations. It can be used for a variety of devices and uses, including the LED light bulb, the incandescent lightbulb, the wireless internet, and coal-burning heat pumps. The internal components and partitions of the unit are being robotically disassembled. New pieces are then inserted plug and play. To create a self-cleaning and adaptable living space that is long-lasting and without impact, new functions are being added. Rainbow-collared circular-economy builders work closely with social- and environmental experts, both on-site and remotely. Real-time metabolic information synchronizes with regenerative actions locally and across a wider value chain. Sustainability is now clear and measured with specific KPIs. There is no greenwashing. A second chance for everyone is offered by extending the building’s life span to 2100. What is the purpose of this? This building aims to reverse the negative impacts of the past and improve the quality and safety of the future.
Greenwashing is not allowed
Where does this all start? The new EU wide building reporting tool, the Level(s), Framework. Level(s), a set of 16 indicators, is based on lifecycle thinking and climate adaptability. It is a reporting framework that harmonises concepts and approaches. This provides a common language across Europe for all buildings in the circular paradigm, from early design through execution to use phase and beyond. Level(s), whether you are a developer, manufacturer, or designer, offers the opportunity to engage. The framework can be used as a learning platform for improving your knowledge on resource efficiency and recyclability, indoor quality (IAQ), risk-proof valuation (LCC), resilience, and other topics. The framework supports ideas with measurements that use consistent methods that result in better decision-making. Level(s) allows you to fully describe and predict your asset, simulate its performance across multiple areas, and compare alternatives before investing, burning, and exhausting.
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Eight EU countries have been deeply involved in the development and implementation of the framework. They are now aligning their certification systems with the Level(s). Project LIFE levels. The six macro-objectives and 16 key performance indicators were compared to certification schemes such as DGNB System (NL), BREEAM-NL and HQE-certivea. This was done in order to ensure consistency between the certification schemes. The primary tool for designing buildings in the EU under a lifecycle approach is the level(s).
The availability of quality data to run Lifecycle Assessment calculations (LCA) was assessed. More harmonised information and Environmental Product Declarations were also reviewed. Public Procurement is being encouraged to make these criteria more attractive and implement policies that support reusability, adaptation, and health metrics. Stakeholder exchange webinars, interviews, and interviews with the top leaders are all part of this effort. Guide to Green Public ProcurementThey are readily available. Specific Capacity buildingProgrammes on LCA, LCC, and IAQ for procurers and manufacturers are available: The Irish and Finnish partners already offer these.
What will the future look like for the building industry if it adopts this vision?
Now we have a reporting tool that can lead a vision of healthy, resilient, and sustainable buildings. What will this vision look like for the building industry? What will cities and buildings look like? How will human societies adapt to changes?
Change is a key driver of human life. Buildings and cities are human attempts to create and maintain comfortable living conditions. In the last two centuries, humans have run out of fossil energy that took millions of years to create. Our industries have altered the planet’s surface to an almost tectonic degree. Our oceans have been contaminated and so has our atmosphere. The sixth mass extermination is in progress. The European building sector is responsible to half of all the extracted materials, half the total energy consumption and one third of waste generation. This situation must be rectified immediately.
Insulation in 20th-century buildings is not able to adapt to 21st-century climate conditions. Their material extraction, manufacturing, installation, removal, and recycling are all considered unsustainable. Citizens shouldn’t have to travel long distances to get to work in order to enjoy their leisure time. Cities should not be barriers to people or to ecosystems or biodiversity. Administrative frontiers cannot contain rivers, coasts, and winds. These principles must be considered in the way we plan and design the built environment. This is something that was missed during the rapid growth of our cities and towns over the past two centuries. Are we able to work with our living environment to create and sustain a regenerative built environment. Can we improve the performance and efficiency of what is already being built? The retrofit of current housing stock can reduce the burden on the planet.
Being more mindful of our environment
Our real estate should meet minimum standards of sustainability, dignity, equity, and affordability. Access and orientation should be able to adapt to the local sun and wind conditions. Urban density should be in line with the environment’s carrying capacity. It is important to understand and plan for the metabolic cycle, which is the city’s input and output flows. It is important to recognize recycling, reusing, and repurposing as vital activities, and even professions. We don’t have a Planet B (another Earth), however, we can learn to take good care of the Planet A (the Earth already in our possession).
Europe’s building sector should be focused on deep renovation and new construction only when absolutely necessary. Energy limits are now commonplace. The focus must be broadened to include embodied and resource depletion as well as eco-toxicity and other environmental metrics. These issues are addressed by the Level(s) framework, which will be the foundation of EU thinking in these areas in future.
The European Commission has launched the Level(s), Framework. It is used as a reporting tool in directives and taxonomy. It is important to consider it if you are designing a new building or establishing its procurement criteria. Join your nearest GBC to help you go further and make a difference in the sustainability of the sector.
Please note that this is a commercial profile
2019. This work is licensed underCC-BY-NC-ND.
