The right choice makes all the difference: regardless of whether you use the DGNB System as an auditor as part of a certification process or purely as a planning and optimization tool for practical use - the choice of building products always plays a key role. Through their environmental impact, their life cycle costs and their effects on user comfort, building products make a significant contribution to the overall performance of a building. When used consciously, they help to increase building comfort, reduce operating costs or conserve resources, for example. If your project involves the construction of a new building, the choice of building products influences more than half of all 37 criteria in the DGNB System. Your choice is therefore relevant for all dimensions of sustainability (except for site quality).

It is therefore worth asking yourself the critical questions again for each project and carefully considering the choice of each product!

In addition to the qualitative and quantitative properties of the products used (which have a direct influence on the overall performance), the DGNB System also takes into account the planning performance (which has an indirect influence on the overall performance). For example, the specification of ecological requirements in the tender or the use of gray water as a solution for reducing drinking water consumption has a positive effect on the result. It is important that the DGNB system considers all effects in the overall context with a view to the complete life cycle and not individual measures. You can find out how the respective products relate to the certification system as well as characteristic and reference values on the product detail pages.

For an overview of all criteria that have a direct or indirect influence.