Sustainable building is more than just low-energy

Most people know it’s important. Sustainable building. It’s going to mean a lot – and it already means a lot. But it can be difficult to understand: DGNB, Nordic Swan Ecolabelling, BREEAM and other labels. What are they about, and how do you get started?

SUSTAINABILITY IS A HOLISTIC ASSESSMENT

Some might immediately think ‘environmental’ or ‘passive houses’ when talking about sustainable construction. And that’s an important part of it, but the Danish sustainability concept from Green Building Council Denmark includes much more than environmental considerations and energy consumption.

It also includes parameters for economic and social sustainability, covering things like lifetime costs, operation, comfort, and aesthetics. And then there’s technical quality and process quality – right from the planning stage of a building.

It all comes together in a holistic assessment that emphasises that the different qualities are in balance. So that the environment is not prioritised so much that it reduces comfort for the users or makes the economy incoherent. Or vice versa.

THINK SUSTAINABLY FROM THE START

It’s important to consider sustainability from the start because it’s not something that can easily be applied to an ongoing project. On the other hand, it adds great value to the finished building if it is sustainable.

You get sustainability ‘as a gift’ if you consider Badelement’s modular bathroom pods and service shafts as an element in your construction project. As standard, both comply with parameters and limit values, so they can be included in both environmentally and sustainability-certified construction.

The sustainability concept we refer to here is the one that applies in Denmark – the one forming the basis for DGNB certification, which is adapted to Danish legislation and norms.