SCI-Network

Tools for sustainable renovation procurement

Draft State of the Art Report

Author:

Isa-Maria Bergman, Motiva Oy

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Table of Contents

Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 3

About existing tools ............................................................................................................................... 3

General .................................................................................................................................................... 3

Target buildings and indicators ............................................................................................................. 4

Use of tools in procurement of sustainable refurbishment ................................................................ 5

The construction procurement process ................................................................................................ 5

Environmental assessment tools .......................................................................................................... 6

Tools for choosing particular solutions or materials ........................................................................... 7

User involvement .................................................................................................................................... 8

Supporting the change to renewable energy .................................................................................... 10

Summary on tools in sustainable renovation procurement ............................................................. 11

Links ...................................................................................................................................................... 12

Ongoing research and development projects................................................................................... 12

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Introduction The objective of the SCI Network Working Group 1 was to learn more about key questions concerning the use of environmental assessment systems in public sustainable renovation procurement. The Working Group primarily focused on environmental assessment tools, sustainability indicators and decision making support tools for existing buildings. The aim of the Working Group has been to look at ongoing research and demonstration projects in order to stimulate the exchange of experiences within the SCI network on the issue at hand. The working group identified the following key questions for discussions:

• Which environmental assessment tools for renovation exist and how can public authorities’ best use these in the procurement processes?

• How can public authorities include a user perspective in the planning and procurement

processes in sustainable renovation projects in order to ensure a positive outcome?

• To what extent do existing tools facilitate the change to renewable energy solutions in renovation projects?

A guide on user involvement has been published separately focusing on the second key question.

About existing tools

General There is a vast amount of different kinds of tools available for sustainable renovation of buildings. The tools have different aims and characteristics, spanning a wide range of environmental assessment tools or certifications (e.g. BREEAM, LEED, SB Tool), process guidance tools (e.g. Softlandings, Survival strategies), tools for choosing particular energy efficient solutions (e.g. EnerGo) or environmentally sound materials (e.g. Baubook).1 Nationally developed tools exist in many European countries and more are being developed. Different stages in the project planning process need different assessment tools. Most tools available tend to be most useful in a later stage of the planning process, whereas tools for the early design phases are rare. The cost of using assessment tools differ from freely downloadable calculation methods to costs of accredited consultants and certification. Currently several research projects are looking to develop a common methodology for assessing the environmental aspects of buildings and data validity and reliability of the selected key indicators and criteria for benchmarking.2 The EU standardisation body, CEN, is developing a harmonised 1 A list of identified tools is attached. This is also found in the Resource center at www.sci-network.eu

2 See Research and development projects under Links below.

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methodology for the assessment of construction works. This work will affect the future development and use of assessment systems.

National and regional assessment tools should preferably have the as similar characteristics as possible. There are a number of templates and guidance available providing a concept for developing national or regional environmental assessment tools. The Sustainable Building format of the IisBE (International Initiative for a Sustainable Built Environment)3 and the LensE-tool developed in the EU, are examples of these. They provide a common format for assessments, with the possibility to adapt the content according to national or regional circumstances. A recent initiative is also the EU-funded Open House project4 developing and implementing a common European transparent building assessment methodology, complementing the existing ones, for planning and constructing sustainable buildings by means of an open approach and technical platform.

Several tools, many targeting energy efficient buildings, have been developed with EU-funding during the last 10 years.

Target buildings and indicators Most environmental assessment systems are designed for new buildings. These often cover major renovation projects as well. However, more and more systems specifically for existing buildings are evolving, addressing operation and maintenance during the use-phase. For both new build and existing buildings the assessment should include all sustainability related issues that the relevant stakeholders can actually influence. For existing buildings users and facility managers can influence issues relating to operation, whereas architects can influence the technique, materials and energy sources. According to the SuPerBuilding project, it is not advisable to assess all buildings with one and the same system, indicators and benchmarks.5 These should be tailored according to the building type and the actual use of the building. E.g. the benchmarks of the energy use of school building should not be directly compared to those of a hospital, as the activities and functions, and thus needs, differ. The main distinction made in most tools referring to building type is residential/non-residential. However, a number of building type specific systems and tools are emerging. There are already some building specific guides, e.g. for historical buildings and schools. According to the SCI-Network Forum discussions there seems to be a need for building specific tools for hospitals. Such a tool is under development in Portugal. Most environmental assessment systems include similar indicators addressing the same impact categories. However, they tend to use differing phrasing and definitions. There are also variations in indicators both in content: energy efficiency, indoor climate, resource efficiency, sustainability of the surroundings, and in weighting.

3 www.iisbe.org

4 www.openhouse-fp7.eu

5 www.superbuildings.com

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Certain indicators commonly used for defining and assessing sustainability refer to properties of the buildings as physical entities; others refer to the way in which processes during construction, commissioning and operation are managed, i.e. how well certain activities are executed. Often these two types are being mixed. The differences in measurement, methodology and terminology make the comparison and choice of tool challenging for public authorities. For the assessment of buildings the EU standardisation committee, CEN TC350, differs between functional equivalents and functional units. Functional equivalents are the basis for assessing whole buildings under per-established building performance characteristics. These are used to compare different design solutions for whole buildings. A functional unit is used to compare building components and building products fulfilling specific performance characteristics. Most of the environmental issues and indicators are commonly used within the assessment of buildings. However, the way these indicators are assessed often differs between the different tools as well as the level of detail and elements considered. The ongoing SuperBuildings project provides an analysis of 11 national building assessment tools in Europe. Their analysis shows that most tools cover issues such as, primary energy consumption, minimised water consumption, global warming potential and materials. Not commonly considered issues are on the other hand user related indicators, space efficiency and life cycle costs.6 Thus, in such a case these need to be accounted for separately. The scope of competence needed for applying environmental assessment tools ranges from self-assessment, management by a competent project leader to third party verification.

Use of tools in procurement of sustainable refurbishment

The construction procurement process The procurement process in a renovation project is the same as that of a new building. For a typical construction project the process starts with a requirement from the public authority for a constructed asset. Design work may be undertaken either in-house or by external consultants appointed following a competitive process. In some cases these external consultants undertake a tendering process to select a main contractor, whereas in other cases this is done by the client authority directly. The public client can also decide to combine both design and the actual construction and procure a design and build- contractor, or even design, build and operate. In most cases the main contractor will take care of employment of subcontractors and the procurement of materials. After successful completion of the project there will be a hand over of the completed asset to the end user. In the case of renovation projects there is also the possibility to require a managed service for instance as an energy service contract. The contractor then designs, conducts the renovation and maintains responsibility for the energy savings and other required quality targets during the operation of the contract period.

6 SuperBuildings Deliverable 2.1. Conclusions about the needs of development of sustainability indicators and assessment methods, 2010-06-30.

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Sustainable refurbishment of an existing building requires relevant data on the current environmental performance in order to set the appropriate target level for the refurbishment. The energy certificate of buildings is one basis of information if available. Audits may need to be carried out, which may require contracting a qualified auditor. The audit usually points out the most cost-effective measures to achieve energy- and resource efficiency.7 In some EU member states, for instance in Finland, government funding is available for energy auditing in public sector buildings. If an audit is ordered, it is important for the public authority to set clear objectives and requirements on this as well, so that it serves the purpose of the forthcoming renovation project.

Environmental assessment tools

Target setting

Assessment tools, such as BREEAM, LEED, Passiv Haus and national examples like PROMISE (Fi), DGNB (Ger), Protocollo Ithaca (Ita), Klima:aktiv (Aut) provide a basis for target setting in the very beginning of a renovation project, as well as a tool for planning and design. The planning and design of a refurbishment is usually itself tendered by the public authorities. The information and data of current and foreseen use profile, consumption of water and energy, as well as the technical profile of the building needs to be provided by the public authority ( supported by experts like architects and technical consultants). This information is the basis for the aspired future sustainability targets for the building, which must be clearly stated in the call for tender. This may be done by either stating that a certain level of assessment, e.g. BREEAM Excellent, or a specific indicator, e.g. carbon footprint or reduced water consumption, should be achieved. In case of the latter it is preferable that the contracting authority determines the mandatory tool to be used, the most appropriate criteria to apply and which aspects of design and material selection this can cover. This of course requires quite detailed knowledge of existing tools, indicators and the preconditions for their use. The targeted criteria should be clearly and unambiguously defined in the call for tender, as well as how they can be verified. If the contracting authority aims at a specific performance level, e.g. the Passiv Haus standard or BREEAM excellent, this should also be clearly stated in the call for tender. Selection criteria

It is of course also essential to match the targets set with requirements on competence in the selection criteria. It should be clearly stated by the tendering authority what is meant by the appropriate experience and competence required. If the objective is to certify the building accredited designers may be obligatory. At least one member of the design team should have references of good examples of sustainable construction, sufficient experience of using similar tools and/or experience of research and development in the subject matter. If a simulation model is to be used the work team requires a member with such

7 This is at least the case with energy auditing of buildings in Finland.

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program and competence to use it. It is essential to require that these persons not only are available in the bidding consortium, but also that they will participate in the project if contracted. The EU Green Public procurement criteria for sustainable construction8 suggest as selection criteria: Experience of the architect in environmental construction 2. The architect must demonstrate sufficient experience with environmental building design. E.g.…Use of LCC and LCA tools in design It may be appropriate to bring in external expertise and set up a jury that combines common knowledge to judge the experience statements of competing architects.

When evaluating the incoming bids contracting authorities must verify the correct use of the applicable calculation method. This might need external/internal input of experts in LCC, CO2-calcuations etc. Outcome based tendering

If the contracting authority sets an objective of the highest possible level of environmental performance the bidders compete on most and highest indicators or points achieved. The best procedure for outcome base tendering would be architectural competitions for a sustainable renovation. The process of the competition usually consists of: programming stage/project development- tendering stage- design approval- jury meeting. A proposal on how to proceed with the assessment of energy and sustainability aspects in architectural competition has been presented in an Austrian study.9 Firstly, the client’s brief should contain a clear definition of energetic and environmental targets and benchmarks with quantitative indicators for energy and environmental aspects. The purchasing authority should also provide clear and transparent weighting criteria for the participating architects and the jury. Clear communication with quantitative and rateable criteria should be continued in the tendering stage. Here, a provision of a simplified assessment tool for all participants is recommended. However, there is a lack of assessment tools for the pre-design stage. By providing the participants with clear rules on how the solutions and data presented will be assessed with a mandatory standardised tool, seems to be the only way for the procuring authority to get comparable and verifiable results. For participants the lack of transparent assessment criteria equals ambiguity concerning their performance. Public authorities seldom have capacity and competence to assess solutions in architectural competitions. The evaluation at the design approval stage would probably need a contracted expert. Especially in architectural competitions with a focus on sustainability, a jury with competent experts should be selected.

Tools for choosing particular solutions or materials

Energy efficiency

8 http://ec.europa.eu/environment/gpp/first_set_en.htm

9 Staller & Tritthart, Assessment of energy and sustainability aspects in architectural competitions, ECEEE 2011

Summer study.

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Specific tools are available for calculating the energy efficiency for different technical solutions or for choosing environmentally sound construction materials. The IEE-funded Build Up-portal ( www.buildup.eu )includes information on a considerable amount of tools for making informed choices in improving energy efficiency. They may be used for assessing various parameters for different solutions. This would be most helpful in the early planning stage of a renovation project, as a tool for the designers. They might also be used for comparing tenders. However, this requires public authority knowledge and understanding of the indicators and different performance levels. The tenderers can be required to submit specific proposals for specific issues, i.e. achieving energy efficient lighting, heating, cooling, high-efficiency cogeneration and ventilation in the building. The contracting authority should be clear about how the proposals will be evaluated and what calculation method will be used. One alternative is to require tenderers to submit a life cycle cost calculation, which will then be used as basis in the assessment of tenders. The client should either provide a calculation model or state the parameters to be included in the assessment.

Building materials

Public authorities seldom conduct the procurement of different materials themselves, as this usually is part of the design and construction contracts. However, the public purchasing entity can require that the designers use such tools and present the most environmentally sound solutions. The call for tender and contract with the construction entrepreneur should entail clauses that assure that the correct choices are used. There should be a follow up mechanism in the contract verifying that the best solutions in the planning process also are the ones implemented. For instance the contractor may need to supply documentation of the building materials used together with verification that these comply with the targets set. For more information on tools available for assessing building materials and how to use these in procurement, see the SCI Network State of the Art Report on Sustainable building materials.10 The case study of the office building at Biberstrasse 5 is an excellent example of the process of making informed choices in renovation procurement. Here the building client ordered a service for chemical management in the early planning phase. The service provider was to help project management in how to minimise the use of organic solvent containing building chemicals like glues, paints or varnishes. As a result of this, together with the use of tools for scoping environmentally sound materials available (e.g. Baubook, Ökokauf Vienna) the contracting client was able to select the suitable choices.11

User involvement There is a growing interest in involving the end-users in the planning of a sustainable renovation project. Consideration of user’s needs, referring to a pre-occupancy consultation of the future users of the

10 New technical solutions for Energy efficient buildings State of the Art Report Sustainable building materials, Heimo Staller & Angelika Tisch IFZ, July 2011. 11 Case study available at the resource center on www.sci-network.eu

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building is not a common indicator in existing tools. The analysis made in the SuperBuildings project shows that some tools include user-related indicators, including user requirements, individual lifestyles and preferences and usability of the building.12 The main evaluation criterion used is the presence or not of a pre-occupancy consultation of future users and neighbours in the planning and design phase of the building or at least a pre-occupancy evaluation of potential needs of future users. Control by users of ventilation, sun protection devices, anti-glare devices, temperature, daylight and artificial light and user-friendliness of these control systems is not yet applied by many assessment systems. More detailed indicators for sustainable travel and mobility, for instance facility for car-pooling, also seem to be missing. The more innovative a technical solution is the more important it is to also address user involvement and training. Further information and examples of user involvement is found in a separate guidance report.13 Process guidance tools

By process guidance tools we mean tools that suggest ways to set up the actual renovation project f, procedures for target setting, and ways of involving different competencies and stakeholders in order to achieve a sustainable solution. The UK-based Softlandings is one example, which has recently been linked with the UK-based assessment tool BREEAM. Such tools help the decision making process by facilitating client target setting and management, aiming at post-occupancy evaluation and ensuring that the expected performance levels are achieved. The Softlandings framework gives a clear illustration of the different steps in the procurement process from initial target setting to post-occupancy evaluation.14 When linked with sustainability indicators this seems to provide the quality assurance for both the building as well as the process. Many procedural tools for existing buildings focus on the use and maintenance of the building. The importance of involving all crucial stakeholders is emphasised. This is in fact an important aspect for identifying new solutions and services to support the sustainability of the use phase of the building, which can be seen from various pilot projects.15 Training the facility managers and other relevant users on how to maintain and operate the new innovative solutions is crucial in order to ensure that the targeted environmental performance over time is achieved. The public authority can require tenderers to outline the content of subsequent training for building managers and other users. The involvement of users in the design process is an important trigger for new solutions in renovation projects. If this is one of the targets of the public authority, it should be set as a requirement in the call for tender for the design. The bidders can then choose whether or not to use an existing process management tool. A plan for user involvement should be submitted either separately or as part of the overall plan.

12 See Superbuildings project Deliverable 2.1. for a list of user related indicators in existing national assessment tools. 13 Guidance on user involvement 14

The Soft landnings framework for better briefing, design, handover and building performance in-use. BSRIA BG 4/2009p. 15. www.softlandings.org.uk 15 www.saveenergy.eu

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Supporting the change to renewable energy Most environmental assessment tools include indicators for CO2-emissions or climate footprint. These are usually defined as CO2-equivalents in tons or kg, the percentage proportion of renewable energy/ locally produced renewable energy of the total primary energy demand or simply renewable energy percentage of needs covered.

Often however, the decision to change energy sources or strive towards climate-neutrality depends largely on a pre-announced political will or a feasibility study showing the potential for renewables. The assessment tool can of course in itself also trigger the switch to renewable energy if the climate-indicator is used and given enough weight.

As can be seen from the SCI-Network case study on Westborough school in the UK16, in addition to the political will to act, process guidance tools are important in order to get the facility managers and users involved and encouraged in the planning stage.

The Austrian klima:aktiv program for buildings for instance intends specifically to trigger additional investments in renewable energy. The Biberstrasse 5-case17 was a pilot in developing criteria for the building part of the klima:aktiv program. For the planning stage a separate tool for a lifecycle costing calculation is also provided, which is crucial in order to achieve cost-efficient investments.

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www.sci-network.eu/fileadmin/templates/sci-network/files/Resource_Centre/Case_Studies/Case_Study_Westborough_Primary_School.pdf 17

http://www.sci-network.eu/fileadmin/templates/sci-network/files/Resource_Centre/Case_Studies/Case_Study_Biberstra%C3%9Fe_5.pdf

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Summary on tools in sustainable renovation procurement For the procurement process of a renovation project environmental assessment tools are most important for target setting and design of the renovated building. Process guidance tools, on the other hand ensure that all relevant stakeholders are involved from the needs assessment phase onwards and ensure that contractual targets are met. Quality insurance of the whole process is equally important as achieving a high environmental standard in the refurbished building as the former covers the contractual consequences of failure to attain a targeted performance level. There seems to a gap in information on how far the existing assessment tools actually bend towards both technical innovations and services with guaranteed savings according to the assessment done. Using almost any tool requires a certain level of competence, which is not necessarily present in all public authorities. Knowledge and experiences of using assessment tools for sustainable construction should be a selection criterion in the call for tender if a particular assessment tools is to be used. However, few tools possess all characteristics needed for decision making and the actual procurement. Life cycle costs are rarely included, unless as pure decision support tools for energy efficient solutions and in some national building assessment tools, such as the Austrian klima:aktiv program and the Austrian Blue Card, which includes a low cost sustainability check. There could also be a stronger linkage between the use of tools and public subsidies for sustainable or energy efficient refurbishment. An example of this is the Brussels region where large subsidies to construction or /renovation projects are given to those obtaining a very good score according to the sustainable building evaluation method developed in the region.18 The use of environmental assessment, procedural or other existing tools in general still needs to be promoted. The potential for innovations when using either environmental assessment tools or process guidance tools is considerable, for instance if targeting the most ambitious levels and indicators in e.g. BREEAM and LEED. If the procuring entity sets targets high enough and involves users and facility managers in the planning process, the project allows for new technological solutions and service concepts to be called for in the actual procurement. Different procurement methods can then be applied. The economically most valuable and environmentally sustainable outcome could be the result of a process linking the assessment tool, measuring, user guidance and follow up of indicators into a supporting contractual model for a new type of managed service.

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Erik Alsema N/E, Patxi Hernandez TECNALIA LAB, Tarja Häkkinen VTT, Antonin Lupíšek CVUT, Tarja Mäkeläinen VTT, Superbuildings project deliverable 3.2. Potential of sustainable building assessment methods as instruments of steering of sustainable building, release date 2011-04-11

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Links

Ongoing research and development projects

Open House

The overall objective of OPEN HOUSE is to develop and to implement a common European transparent building assessment methodology, complementing the existing ones, for planning and constructing sustainable buildings by means of an open approach and technical platform. The baseline will be existing standards (both CEN/TC 350 and ISO TC59/SC17), the EPBD Directive and its national transpositions and methodologies for assessing building sustainability at international, European and national level. The OPEN HOUSE project is funded by the European Communities’ Seventh Framework Program. http://www.openhouse-fp7.eu/

SuPerBuilding

The Superbuilding project aims at developing understanding about performance levels in Europe and criteria for benchmarking and to make recommendations for the effective use of benchmarking systems in different stages of building projects. The project provides an excellent review of existing building evaluation tools and an analysis of their indicators and assessment methods. http://cic.vtt.fi/superbuildings/

LEnSE Methodology Development towards a Label for Environmental, Social and Economic Buildings. LEnSE was a European research project that responds to the growing need in Europe for assessing a building's sustainability performance. The project drew on the existing knowledge available in Europe on building assessment methodologies. www.lensebuildings.com