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A prerequisite for value stability, this term refers to the ability of a building to accommodate changing user requirements and respond to future needs in a simple, cost-effective way.

Biodiversity refers to the variety of plant and animal life on earth. The United Nations declared 2010 to be the International Year of Biodiversity to create awareness of biodiversity loss through extinction of animal and plant species. The causes are many and include serious environmental changes such as global warming, pollution of living spaces, excessive fertilisation and overfishing.

The term biomass refers to all organic material derived from living or recently living organisms, i.e. humans, animals and plants. A distinction is made between solid biomass (e.g. wood and straw), wet or liquid biomass (e.g. liquid manure and organic waste) and biogas. Biomass is stored in all organic material, such as plants and wood, and is a source of renewable energy. It is used for heating purposes in the form of wood pellets and wood chips.

Method of measuring the airtightness of a building envelope, enabling early identification of leaks and prevention of damage, such as mould. A ventilator with a calibrated fan blows air into the building and measures the difference in air pressure. The measured air flow (50-pascal pressure change) provides information on any “holes” where heat is escaping.

The German Federal Environment Agency (UBA) defines brownfield redevelopment as “reintegration into the economic and natural cycle via planning, environmental and economic measures of former industrial/commercial sites that have lost their previous function and use”. In practice, this means finding new uses for disused sites, such as residential development, thereby utilising land resources in a sustainable manner.

The CF reveals the amount of greenhouse gas emissions produced by a product, country or company – or even a building. As a rule, a CF covers the entire life cycle, including subsequent recycling or disposal. Where companies are concerned, it is a metric of the quantity of greenhouse gases released as a result of business activity. This data can be used to measure the company’s contribution towards CO₂ reduction.

CHP is a technology that harnesses thermodynamic heat produced when generating electricity and uses it for heating purposes. CHP plants thus combine electricity and heat production.
Thanks to CHP technology, up to 90% of the input energy can be utilised.

Plant for local production of energy (heat and electricity) based on the principle of combined heat and power (CHP). CHPDH’s are a sub-group of CHP. Normal CHPDH modules produce up to 10 megawatts of electricity and are mainly used in the form of combustion engines or gas turbines in houses, apartment buildings, businesses and housing developments. CHP plants are also increasingly being used to supply office and administrative buildings.

An agreement by leading green building organisations to adopt a common global standard for measuring the carbon footprint of buildings. The agreement is supported by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The CCM provides insights into the economic potential of making buildings more energy efficient and facilitates international comparison.

CSR is a concept whereby companies integrate social concerns into their business operations and contribute towards sustainable development on a voluntary basis. As one of the biggest emitters of carbon dioxide, the property sector has a special responsibility here. In recent years, the number of sustainable buildings has risen substantially. As an ethical property investment (or socially responsible investment, SRI), such properties can also be used to generate a financial return.

Daylight autonomy provides information on the amount of time that a room can manage without artificial light on a daily basis. It is an important factor for a building’s energy efficiency. Daylight control systems in particular can increase daylight autonomy and thus reduce the daily need for artificial light.

All measures designed to improve a building’s use of daylight and thus contribute to a significant reduction in primary energy requirement. Ways of ensuring maximum daylight include extensive glazing and implementing solar shading as a daylight control system in which the blades track the sun.

A sophisticated daylight system renders artificial light redundant, even on overcast days. Lighting technology such as reflector systems, light diffusers, etc. considerably improve daylight use compared to conventional lighting systems.

A product or system is energy-efficient if it fulfils its purpose with the minimum possible energy use or if the energy supplied can be used with maximum efficiency.

Analysis and monitoring of energy and resource consumption. All energy cycles within the building are documented and evaluated using bus technology, providing the basis for targeted energy management.

The 2009 German Energy Saving Regulations (EnEV) refer to a certificate called an “energy passport”, which contains standard requirements for efficient energy consumption in buildings. Previously only required for residential buildings, this system was extended to commercial properties from 1 July 2009.

Materials from which energy can be recovered and thus utilised for energy production or transport. A distinction is made between fossil energy sources, such as oil, natural gas and coal, and renewable sources, e.g., wind, water, sun and air.

An EPD provides data on a building’s contribution to the greenhouse effect, use of resources, acidification, excessive fertilisation, smog formation and, if relevant, to use of space and specific toxic effect on people and ecosystems.

The energy received by the consumer, i.e. the energy directly supplied to the building in the form of heating oil, gas, district heating or electricity. Conversion losses caused by technical systems (heating system, water heating system, light bulbs) are taken into account.

The ability of a building to be reused or used for multiple uses. Easily adaptable floor plans and daylight that extends far into the interior are crucial factors here. Like space efficiency, flexible usage is key to a building’s profitability.

FSC is an international certification system which guarantees that wood and paper products are produced from sustainably managed forests. The FSC system requires compliance with both environmental and social standards.

Geothermal power uses either the solar energy stored in the air, water and soil as an indirect technology or extracts heat stored in the earth’s crust and converts it into heat energy via heat pumps. In order to extract heat from deep within the earth, ground collectors near the surface are used as well as geothermal probes and groundwater wells. An air/water pump uses energy from the ambient air.

GWP is a measure of how much a substance contributes to global warming. Like non-renewable primary energy consumption (PEC non-renewable) and acidification potential, it is one of the criteria used to calculate the international ecological index (Ökoindex 3), which indicates the ecological profile of building materials.

The energy needed to produce, transport or dispose of a product. This energy is harmful to the environment, although the impact is not immediately apparent. A considerable amount of grey energy is contained in building materials that are transported over long distances, for example, and in packaging materials.

Recovery of heat energy from the exhaust air of ventilation systems. A heat exchanger extracts some of the residual heat from the exhaust air, thus warming the incoming supply air. A downstream heat pump enhances the effect. When the German Energy Saving Regulations (EnEV) came into force in 2009, heat recovery became mandatory in Germany for new systems handling volumes in excess of 4,000 m³/h.

Earth, water and air can be used as sources of heat by means of heat pumps. Many factors dictate the source of heat or energy best suited to a building, including soil, climate, location and individual heat requirements.

Integrated planning and construction takes a holistic view of all sustainability factors and how they interact, and is thus an essential part of sustainable development projects. Green concepts can only be successfully realised by integrating all participants in the planning process – including architects, structural engineers, building physicists and developers, but also future users, public authorities and construction companies – right from the start.

LCA is a type of “eco-balance” used to evaluate the potential impact of a product, process or activity on the environment over its entire life cycle. The impact includes inputs, i.e., the resources used, such as energy, materials, water, etc., and outputs – emissions into the air, water and ground. ISO 14040 established international standards for life cycle assessment of products and services.

The main criteria of the German Sustainable Building Council (DGNB) for economic viability of office and administrative buildings are LCC and value stability/suitability for third-party use. LCC are costs arising during a building’s life cycle for raw material production, transport, production, use, maintenance and disposal. LCC analysis can be a key factor in deciding whether to acquire long-term assets such as buildings.

Because the supply of chemical elements needed to support living organisms is limited, life on earth is dependent on recycling essential elements. A continuous process of composition and decomposition means that these elements circulate within organisms, ecosystems and the biosphere. This is the materials cycle, which has three main stages: production/growth, consumption/use and decay/decomposition.

Microclimate refers to limited areas extending up to around two metres from ground level, e.g. the air in a room, garden, residential street or on a hillside. Proximity to the ground, where airflow is less pronounced and there are bigger differences in temperature, means that widely contrasting climatic conditions are possible within a small space.

Use of solar cells to directly convert solar energy into electricity. Solar energy is collected by the photovoltaic device and partly converted into electricity without producing carbon dioxide. In Germany, a law on feeding electricity into the grid (Stromeinspeisungsgesetz) and in particular the Renewable Energy Sources Act (Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetz) have led to a boom in photovoltaic installations.

A plus energy house uses solar thermal power, geothermal energy and/or photovoltaics to produce more energy than it consumes. In November 2008, the EU revised the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive and stated that the plus energy house should become the norm by 2019.

In order to qualify for precertification by the German Sustainable Building Council (DGNB), all key sustainability criteria must be defined as objectives at an early planning stage. Precertification can be used to incorporate sustainability into a project from the outset, while also allowing the building’s credentials to be highlighted during the marketing phase.

Primary energy refers to natural sources of energy, e.g. coal, gas, oil, peat, biomass, solar energy, wind and hydropower. It is converted into useful energy for the consumer via final energy.

The amount of energy needed by a building per year for heat and hot water plus energy consumption for all building services, such as air conditioning and ventilation. The primary energy requirement from renewables refers to the share of energy from renewable sources, the primary energy requirement from non-renewable sources refers to energy produced by fossil fuels.

Reuse of rainwater for environmental and economic objectives so as to minimise depletion of the natural water supply. The main rainwater harvesting techniques are rainwater use, infiltration and treatment.

Recovering materials from waste or unwanted products, reintroducing them into the economic cycle and making new products out of them. Paper, glass, cardboard, metal and plastic are particularly suited to recycling. Sorting and separation of waste are essential to the recycling process.

The durability of a product or component as part of the LCA. Terms such as design life, service life, reference service life, service life estimation, etc. are defined in international standard ISO 15686, which deals mainly with concepts around the useful life of a building or component, estimation of service life and the relevant factors affecting it.

Unlike fossil fuels, such as oil, gas, and coal, renewable energies are produced from sources that regenerate as part of a natural process, e.g., solar energy, wind, geothermal power and biomass.

Agricultural and forestry products that are not used for human or animal consumption. They serve as a production feedstock, while also being used to generate heat, electricity or fuel. Hemp, Chinese silver grass, straw and new wool can be used as insulating materials, for example. Oils, starches, sugar, fibres, resins, pigments and waxes from vegetable or animal production are increasingly being used as the basic components of building materials. Renewable raw materials also include plants such as rapeseed and sugar beet, which are used as biomass to produce energy.

Natural resources are often divided into renewables and non-renewables. The former include forests, animals and plants, as well as inanimate materials such as soil, water, wind and all types of renewable energy. Non-renewable resources are mineral materials that cannot be recycled or “grown” again, such as the fossil energy sources oil, natural gas and coal. By definition, sustainability rules out use of these materials.

The result of producing or converting primary energy, e.g. electricity, coal products or district heating. The production or conversion process is always associated with significant energy loss.

Since 1 January 2010, installation of smart meters in new builds and existing buildings that have undergone full renovation has been compulsory in Germany. Smart meters enable real-time information on energy consumption and supply to be exchanged, thereby allowing supply and demand to be balanced. Greater transparency of energy consumption encourages more economical use by consumers.

Alongside photovoltaics, solar thermal power is one of the two basic principles of solar technology. While photovoltaic cells convert solar radiation into electricity, solar thermal power uses collectors to produce heat for back-up heating, to heat water and to provide cooling energy. Because their energy output is not fully predictable, solar thermal systems are not yet suited for use as autonomous energy systems. If the collectors produce too little solar energy, the accumulator is heated via another energy source (district heating, natural gas, biomass, etc.).

The quantity of water consumed over a year in relation to the size of a building. It is calculated in litres per square metre per year, i.e. l/m² p.a.

The criteria drawn up by the German Sustainable Building Council (DGNB) for office and administrative buildings contain only two core criteria for economic viability: building-related life cycle costs and value stability/suitability for third-party use. The latter refers to a building’s space efficiency and ability to support changes in use: a building designed according to sustainability principles can be adapted to tenant or user changes or new layouts with minimal use of resources.

Energy produced for a specific consumer purpose, e.g. heat, cold, light, the forward movement of a car, performance of a vacuum cleaner, etc. It is the result of the conversion of final energy. High conversion and distribution losses mean that on average only a third of the actual primary energy input is utilised.

Reuse of slightly to heavily polluted water without extensive treatment. Relatively clean water (grey water) is suitable for flushing toilets or watering landscaped areas, while heavily polluted water (black water and yellow water) can be used as fertiliser or fermented to produce biogas, i.e. used as an energy source.

The zero energy building is a technical evolution of the “passive house”, whereby the building generates its own energy over the course of a year. In practice, this requires installation of solar thermal power and photovoltaic systems with large storage units, which enable stand-alone operation. According to the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive, revised in April 2009, zero energy buildings should be the norm by 2019.