Building sustainably - but how?
Construction products play a key role in achieving the sustainability goals in construction projects of all kinds. This is because they play an essential role in the overall performance of a sustainable building construction across its complete life cycle. It starts with the availability of the resources and responsible raw material extraction. During the subsequent manufacturing the key considerations are the environmental effects due to energy or water consumption and pollutant emissions. Furthermore, the costs of the products over their complete life cycle are relevant, and these are primarily influenced by maintenance costs, repairs, cleaning. It may also be necessary to replace products multiple times during building operation. And naturally at the end of use, the question must be answered regarding the products’ ability to be reused, recycled or disposed of safely.
Even at the start of the planning phase sustainability-motivated questions come up such as:
- Are the resources available and are they sourced sustainably?
- What impact does the manufacture of the products have on the environment?
- What is the level of costs over the complete life cycle?
- What happens at the end of use?
- Can the products be recycled or reused, or is there an option for safe disposal?
To be able to make well-founded decisions, all parties involved in the construction project require information regarding the construction products and services. They require transparent, comprehensive, and targeted answers to these questions. This is precisely where the DGNB Navigator comes into play.
What is the DGNB Navigator?
The DGNB Navigator is a construction products platform – but it is not just any platform. The DGNB Navigator is the only construction products platform on the market to connect the information provided by manufacturers regarding product-specific sustainability aspects with the requirements of planners. It also creates the bridge to the DGNB certification. This is because construction products have a direct impact on the certification result for around half the criteria in the DGNB system and therefore the overall performance of the building. You can find out more about the relevance of construction products in the DGNB system here.
Intuitive to use and clearly structured
To arrange the search for suitable construction products in an efficient way, the DGNB Navigator uses intelligent filtering. Here you have the option to enter via the categories “Cost group”, “Material” or “Manufacturer”. Alternatively, you can also start via the general search function.
Since the DGNB Navigator also takes ISO standards into account and is available in English, it can be used worldwide.
One tool for everyone
In the DGNB Navigator each manufacturer provides the relevant data in a targeted manner, and this data is checked by the DGNB for plausibility. This allows products to be compared and evaluated systematically in terms of their sustainability aspects for example in terms of their pollutant or hazardous substance content, the CO²-emissions associated with their manufacture or their ease of recycling. As the owner of the data, the manufacturer retains control of the data and commits to keeping them up to date.
With the certification area for DGNB Auditors, the DGNB Navigator also provides the central platform for documenting the “environmentally friendly materials" (Criterion ENV1.2: Local environment impact) within the DGNB system. Here, the DGNB Auditor lists the products to be documented for the project to be certified according to the criterion, which results in a classification of the project.
When doing so the DGNB Auditor makes reference to one of the following:
■ the products published and pre-evaluated in the DGNB Navigator;
■ the products already classified in another project by a DGNB Auditor and checked by the DGNB; or
■ the DGNB Auditor adds and evaluates the products not yet published in the DGNB Navigator and uploads the required proof for certification in the certification area.
With this continuously self-expanding database, the DGNB Navigator creates the direct connection between construction products and the DGNB certification system for sustainable construction projects.
Anyone wishing to plan, design, build and achieve certification according to DGNB standards uses the DGNB Navigator as the interface to the DGNB system.
A tool for manufacturers
For manufacturers the DGNB Navigator provides clear orientation and customer communication in terms of sustainability.
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A tool for planners and architects
The DGNB Navigator provides planners with a transparent overview for well-founded project decisions.
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A tool for DGNB Auditors
The DGNB Navigator offers DGNB Auditors an instrument to accelerate and simplify their work.
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DGNB Navigator label
Highest demands for transparency and data quality: This is what the DGNB Navigator label stands for. It is awarded to manufacturers who provide full data transparency for the relevant product - including all the information relevant for the DGNB System. This transparency gives all parties involved in the building project the necessary guidance to be able to make a conscious choice of products in terms of sustainability.