26.11.2021 Digital solutions such as the life cycle assessment tool LCA Online and the building product platform Building Material Scout are becoming increasingly important in the realization of sustainable building projects. Thomas Hoinka was a virtual guest at the DGNB on November 16, 2021 in his role as DGNB auditor and spoke about the challenges of DGNB certification and how digital solutions can facilitate the certification process for the “Sustainable Building in Practice” series.
Together with Volker Kaufmann from GFP Goldschmidt Fischer Schütz, Thomas Hoinka reports on their joint auditing activities for the DGNB certification of the RheinMain CongressCenter in Wiesbaden. The two auditors were commissioned to oversee the certification of the building even before the planning phase began in order to integrate the necessary sustainability aspects into the planning early enough and to enable the desired DGNB Platinum award. Upon completion in 2018, the building will be certified with a degree of fulfillment of 85.4% in the usage profile for new buildings for assembly facilities with the targeted DGNB Platinum award. The DGNB Diamond for design and architectural quality will follow shortly afterwards.
In the presentation, Volker Kaufmann and Thomas Hoinka introduce the project and its special features and explain the timeline from planning, pre-assessment and demolition of the existing building through to completion and commissioning of the new building in 2018. As the example of the RheinMain CongressCenter shows, there is great added value in commissioning the auditor before or at the start of planning. In this way, sustainability criteria and goals can be defined from the outset and certification with top marks made possible. Thomas Hoinka also presents the energy concept developed, the various construction site processes and the digital tools used for sustainable building planning, life cycle assessment and DGNB certification. Especially when many trades are involved in the project, digital tools offer great added value and simplify collaboration between all those involved. In the realization of the RheinMain CongressCenter, the DGNB Navigator, the life cycle assessment software LCA Online and the building product platform Building Material Scout were used, among others.
The German Sustainable Building Council(DGNB) is a non-profit association based in Stuttgart. The DGNB now has over 1400 members. These include companies from the construction industry, but also other companies that are committed to sustainability. In addition to building certification, the DGNB also cooperates with universities and offers its own academy for sustainability experts with seminars on the circular economy, climate neutrality and circular construction.
The “Sustainable building in practice” series takes a look behind the scenes of the DGNB certification process. Various DGNB auditors regularly present particularly successful projects whose certification they have accompanied. Further presentations in this series can be found here.
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