Legal instruments for the design of sustainable buildings

Abstract

Currently the building sector is under high pressure: the lack of affordable housing in conurbations and the need to implement environmental performance strategies require concepts that incorporate user needs with planetary boundaries. Against the background of global population growth and a rising demand for resources, urban densification is regarded as a major global trend. The pressure on cities is already recognizable today and studies predict a growing tendency for the next three decades. This is a sensitive situation which provides not only the chance but also the urgent necessity to implement strategies to reduce climate change effects. Regulations are necessary to guide this process in the building sector. Timber construction as well as reused and recycled material show potential to be part of the solution. Against this background, the research deals with the status-quo of current legal instruments to design and construct sustainable buildings. This article provides an overview of the legal instruments in relation to sustainable building processes in the German construction industry with a focus on timber buildings. The relevant standards and guidelines for sustainable building design are investigated by literature review. This includes German Model Building Code (MBO), parts of the DIN standards, the German Building Code (BauGB) and the Building Usage Ordinance (BauNVO) as well as the Model Timber Construction Directive (M-HFHHolzR). The regulations are applied on a multi-residential building in Cologne and discussed whether regulations are enabler or obstacle for this specific project. The results of the study show the urgent need for more flexibility within current inner-city projects to pursue an environmentally friendly design and construction.