A label enters the construction market
The Sustainable Building Switzerland label is presented at Swissbau.
The award decision for the organization for the establishment and development of the Label Nachhaltiges Bauen Schweiz (LNBS), which was put out to tender by the Swiss Federal Office of Energy, was made in the middle of the year, and the bidding consortium SGS Société Générale de Surveillance SA and Zimraum Raum+Gesellschaft was awarded the contract. The consortium will present the LNBS on January 16, 2016 at the trade event Swissbau in Basel. Then we will also know when the label will be officially launched.
The label is part of the Federal Council's sustainable development strategy and is based on the Sustainable Construction Switzerland standard introduced in 2013 (SNBS). It is being developed by the certification company SGS in cooperation with the above-mentioned partners and experts from CSD Ingenieure, Ecosens AG and the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts.
In principle, the LNBS could be seen as a thematic further development of Minergie-Eco be seen as a "green building," emphasizes SGS. In addition to the environment and health, it also covers social (use) and economic aspects (market value and tradability) of a building. Its development is largely based on existing knowledge and expertise in the Swiss construction industry.
3 Differences
According to SGS, the LNBS stands out from the international building labels in three respects:
- Firstly, it does not evaluate the building in isolation, but in its context, i.e. with regard to its embedding in its surroundings. In addition to the urban development qualities, this also includes the economic efficiency and the possible uses.
- Secondly, it is impact-oriented and strict in its specifications, but flexible in its application. It gives the client and the architect freedom in the design of the building. This is a challenge for everyone involved, because it involves weighing up the facts instead of simply working through the criteria. Certification is therefore not a multiple-choice examination, but the evaluation of a proposed solution in terms of its effects.
- Thirdly, in terms of content, the label concentrates on the aspects with a leverage effect. It thus dispenses with elaborate and expensive thoroughness - in favor of the essentials.
