Sustainability Certification Systems as Guidelines for Early-Phase Urban Design Processes

Abstract

The German Sustainable Building Council (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Nachhaltiges Bauen or DGNB) has one of the most comprehensive sustainability certification systems for urban districts (UD). Their explicit aim is that the system should impact the very earliest design decisions. The Technical University of Denmark has tested the DGNB-UD system in two experimental design projects for similar locations to find out how it can be used in the early-phase design process. This paper describes these two independent design processes, compares them and discusses their general features. We found that DGNB-UD addresses a broad sustainable focus and can be used as a tool for setting sustainability goals from the very first design steps. The system promotes multifunctional compromise solutions that meet several criteria at the same time. Using the DGNB-UD certification system in the early design phases therefore does have some effect on the urban design in terms of a bias towards certain design traits.

A new experience mining approach for improving low carbon city development

“…The term LCC is seen as exemplifying urban sustainability by reducing emissions and promoting cleaner production at multiple scales (Fu & Zhang, 2017). On one hand, LCC is within the framework of sustainability, and benefits from sustainability guidelines for setting low carbon agenda and target plans for cities' low carbonization (Jensen, Bjerre, & Mansfeldt, 2016). On the other hand, LCC can contribute to the promotion of the sustainable pattern of city development, which focuses on reducing carbon emissions by changing citizen's behavior towards low carbon without harmful to their life quality (Dai, 2009).…”