A person in a dark suit holds an award from the DGNB, which is given for sustainable buildings.

December 15. 2020 - 6 min. reading time

Effects of building digitization in sustainable construction

Their essential role and influence on the ecological, economic and socio-cultural quality of buildings.

by Hussein Zaazou

A smiling man with dark hair, arms crossed, in a gray sweater, against an urban background.

In October, I had the pleasure of taking part in a panel discussion at Expo Digital. The topic: "Certification systems in terms of sustainability in construction". All the participants except me were representatives of renowned architectural firms, established real estate investors or other well-known real estate companies. I was invited a week before the event and was asked to represent the digitalization perspective.

At first glance, the topic seemed foreign to me. For me, sustainability certifications such as the DGNB certificate in Germany had hardly any connection to building digitization and smart buildings. After more detailed research (so as not to make a complete fool of myself during the panel discussion), I quickly understood how essential digitalization can be for sustainable construction and its certification systems.

Why do buildings get certified at all?

In the construction industry, certifications are very popular - especially for high-quality properties - as they represent a seal of quality for a building, thus increasing the value of the building and making buildings comparable with each other for investors, stakeholders and tenants - for example with regard to the energy consumption of these buildings.

Certification systems such as the DGNB have a series of criteria on the basis of which a building project is assessed and, depending on the degree of fulfillment, a certificate is issued (e.g. bronze, silver, gold or platinum).

In the case of the DGNB certificate for new buildings, the assessment is based on six different main criteria. The most important of these are

Ecological quality - Evaluates the impact of the building on the environment.
Economic quality - considers the long-term economic efficiency and value development of a building.
Sociocultural and functional quality - Evaluates the building in terms of health, comfort and user satisfaction.

Circular diagram with three sections representing ecological, economic and socio-cultural and functional quality, with descriptions of sustainability, costs, comfort, satisfaction and mobility.

An office with a white desk, a laptop, a desk lamp and a man sitting in a chair. On the wall hangs a display board with information about the office, temperature, CO2 values and reservation times.

That's all still a dream of the future, isn't it?

No, it really isn't. Even if it sounds like science fiction, the solutions described are already being used in buildings. For example, cube berlin uses the MazeMap Workplace solution to promote sustainability in its operations and run its facilities more efficiently.

...

Incidentally, the panel discussion went really well. All of the participants represented different points of view, which I found extremely interesting. However, they all agreed on one thing: much more needs to be done in the future to promote sustainability in construction. I am fairly certain that digitalization will play a key role in this.

Bibliography

DGNB System. (2020). Overview of all criteria for buildings in operation. Retrieved December 15, 2020, from https://www.dgnb-system.de/de/gebaeude/im-betrieb/kriterien/index.php

What are the limits of the certification systems?

So far, so good. But what does this have to do with the digitization of buildings? That's a legitimate question. To answer it, we first need to look at the limitations of certification systems.

1. no guarantee for sustainable operation

Certifications are often issued during construction and are therefore based on planning, i.e. they "only" prove the potential of a building to be sustainable; they cannot influence the way the building is operated. An example of this is the incorrect setting of ventilation systems, which can lead to unnecessary energy losses.

2. Sociocultural and functional quality vs. ecological and economic quality

User comfort in the building may have the opposite effect to the ecological and economic quality of a building in operation.

A good example of this, which unfortunately occurs all too often, is a building that is operated in night setback mode (energy-saving mode) from 6 p.m. to 8 a.m. However, a user has to work during these hours and notices that the heating has been turned down. They call the responsible facilities management team, who switch the building to comfort mode. In high-quality buildings where lawyers, bankers, and consultants work, for example, this phenomenon is unfortunately becoming more common, which means that such buildings are often operated in comfort mode 24/7. While this increases user comfort, it has a negative impact on the ecological and economic quality of the building.

How can a building digitization platform like MazeMap Workplace help?

Now we have also understood where the limits of certification systems lie. Let's look at the two points mentioned above, A and B, separately.

MazeMap Workplace can significantly improve sustainable operations through the use of the Building Operating System (BOS). The BOS is an intelligent platform that can access all data in the building (e.g., building automation, lighting system, motion sensors, access control) and knows exactly how the various elements should behave under normal circumstances. The collected information is then made available to the building operator in a clear and transparent manner in the form of dashboards.

If, for example, the room temperature does not reach the set target temperature over a certain period of time despite the heat valve being 100% open, the Facilities Manager (FM) is quickly notified via the MazeMap Workplace app or the MazeMap Workplace console. The FM can then immediately find out where the fault lies and rectify it.

Another example would be if CO2 levels in a room did not decrease despite active ventilation. By quickly analyzing the motion sensors, the FM can determine whether the room is overcrowded or the ventilation is potentially blocked. This case is particularly relevant for limiting the spread of coronavirus in the workplace.

Let's move on to user comfort and how this normally has a negative impact on the ecological and economic quality of a building and what solutions digitalization can offer in return.

By using MazeMap Workplace, user comfort can be limited to the essentials, ensuring the comfort of individual users without significantly affecting the sustainability of the building. To do this, MazeMap Workplace uses the data provided, such as room booking and motion sensor data, to intervene in a dedicated manner tailored to the individual user.

The best example of this is a room that is booked outside the regular times. Normally, the entire building is in night setback mode at these times. However, as the BOS knows which room has been booked at which time, this room (and only this room) can be preheated or ventilated so that the end user does not notice any loss of comfort when they enter the room, while the rest of the building remains in night setback mode.