DGNB

The DGNB Certification System was developed by the German Sustainable Building Council (DGNB) to be used as a tool for the planning and evaluation of buildings in this comprehensive perspective on quality. As a clearly arranged and easy to understand rating system, the DGNB system covers all relevant topics of sustainable construction, and awards outstanding buildings in the categories bronze, silver, and gold. Six subjects affect the evaluation: ecology, economy, social-cultural and functional topics, techniques, processes, and location. The certificate demonstrates, in a quantifiable way, the positive effects of a building on the environment and on society.

The DGNB certificate is based on the concept of integral planning that defines, at an early stage, the aims of sustainable construction. In this way, sustainable buildings can be designed based on the current state of technology, — and they can communicate their quality with this new certificate.

The basis for the system was developed on the building type "New Construction of Office and Administration buildings". On this basis, further systems for completely different building types such as retail, industrial, educational and housing were developed and are ready to be used and internationally adapted. In 2010 the DGNB will introduce certification systems for hotels, existing building and interiors.

As a second-generation certification system, the label excels with a high degree of flexibility. The basis of the evaluation, which was developed with a wide consensus, is a list of topics and the criteria for sustainable construction that are included within that list. These criteria are weighted differently, depending on the building type to be evaluated. Thus, each version of the system, hence each building type, has its own evaluation matrix.During the evaluation, 6 topics are considered by the certificate:

  • Ecological Quality
  • Economical Quality
  • Socio-cultural and Functional Quality
  • Technical Quality
  • Quality of the Process
  • Quality of the Location

The topics are weighted differently in the overall assessment of the building, depending on their relevance. The economical, ecological, socio-cultural and functional quality have the same weighting (22.5% each). Process Quality is weighted with 10% and the quality of the location is not included in the final grade but is presented separately.