Alongside BREEAM, LEED and WELL certifications, little is said about DGNB certification — yet this certification, conceived by the German Sustainable Building Council, has now reached adulthood (it was founded in 2007), and an international version has existed since 2020. With that in mind, in 2021 I obtained DGNB Consultant accreditation, now I draw on my project experience to argue in favor of this certification.
Spoiler: DGNB is much more sober and thorough than its more widely known competitors!
More specifically: why do I believe we should promote DGNB — and especially the In-Use certification?
1.It encourages the development of existing buildings.
If we accept the premise that we don’t need many more new buildings, then this is a strong argument for turning to evaluation systems that assess existing buildings. Personally, knowing that over 10 % of the domestic building stock lies vacant, I believe only missing functions (for example, socially necessary facilities) can truly justify new construction. Meanwhile, when it comes to improving the state of existing buildings, there is a great deal to be done!
2. DGNB In-Use treats the three pillars of sustainability in an integrated, holistic way:
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Environmental quality — energy efficiency, material use, water management, emissions
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Economic quality — operating costs, operational efficiency, value retention
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Social (or societal) quality — comfort, health, safety, accessibility, user satisfaction.
kép forrása: https://www.dgnb.de/en/certification/buildings/buildings-in-use
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3. DGNB is balanced, and does not rely on minimum requirements.
That means a single (sometimes trivial) topic cannot cause failure of the entire certification. Moreover, the evaluation method is designed so that after the initial data gathering the owner/operator obtains the information needed to make well-founded decisions about building improvement and further operation. For example: once you know how much energy the building consumes (broken down in detail), what the comfort parameters are, what feedback the building users give, and you have a close view of operating costs, you are no longer groping in the dark.
4. DGNB not only rewards achieved performance, but also verifiable commitment and implementation of SMART goals.
It places particular emphasis on documentation. The “SMART” goals are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound.
5. By the end of 2025, proposals will be finalized (following an open consultation conducted in the first half of the year). What is already certain is that in the new version there will be greater emphasis on carbon reduction and encouraging biodiversity, as well as solutions for harvesting rainwater. All of these changes also aim to bring the certification even more into alignment with EU Taxonomy requirements, and support compliance with CSRD (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive), SFDR (Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation), GRESB (Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark), EPBD (EU directive on Energy Performance of Buildings), CRREM (carbon risk tool for real estate), and ISO 14001 (environmental management) and ISO 50001 (energy management) standards.
Real change starts with how we care for the buildings we already have. Perhaps it’s time we gave DGNB In-Use the attention it deserves.