In June 2007 HOCHTIEF became one of the founding members of the German Sustainable Building Council and is actively involved in the management of this association. The council is made up, among others, of architects, investors, contractors and scientists. The organization aims to consistently promote sustainable construction and operation of building structures in Germany and create sustainable living spaces. A building certificate should enable this aim to become a reality in the foreseeable future. The certificate is intended to be awarded to projects which have stressed the importance of human health and resource conservation criteria during the planning and construction phases.

Sustainable construction increasingly enters the public eye, and the desire to exchange ideas and experience in connection with this important topic also manifests itself in the construction industry. The German Green Building Council (DGNB) now provides the first platform in this field by organizing "consense", the International Congress and Trade Fair for Sustainable Building.

The second Consense congress was staged on June 23-24, 2009 at Neue Messe Stuttgart which also was the venue for last year's event. The congress had the motto "Creating added value: Sustainable building in the construction and housing industry". For the first time, the ILM-Konferenz (Conference for property life cycle management) which was always held in Düsseldorf in the past was combined with Consense this year. HOCHTIEF was the main sponsor again and was represented at the congress with three small market booths on the subjects Green Building, Energy Efficiency and Facility Management. In addition to a booth of HOCHTIEF Aktiengesellschaft, the arrangement this year also included separate stands of HOCHTIEF Facility Management and HOCHTIEF Energy Management for the first time. In addition, Prof. Dr. Bernhard Bürklin, Head of Corporate Projects at HOCHTIEF and board member of the German Sustainable Building Council (DGNB) lectured at the Consense congress.

Further information:
Presentation Prof. Dr. Bernhard Bürklin (German only)
Consense Program (German only)
Website DGNB
Website Messe Stuttgart

The German Quality Seal for Sustainable Building

Building planners and assessors now have a new and clear instrument at their disposal: The German Quality Seal for Sustainable Building. This performance-focused rating system covers all relevant areas of sustainable building and recognizes outstanding buildings as a gold, silver or bronze category building. The German Sustainable Building Council (DGNB) issues the certificate. As a founding member, HOCHTIEF was actively involved in developing the quality seal.

The benefits of the quality seal:

Active contribution to sustainability: The quality seal quantitatively demonstrates the positive effects of a building for the environment and society.
All-round quality of a property: The certificate improves the chances of the building being sold or leased on the property market. It attracts the attention of owners and users to a building's high level of quality.
Planning and cost certainty: The scheme assures investors during the planning phase that the targeted requirements will all be met by the building.
Better future opportunities for architects and planners: The quality seal means that a higher value is placed on planning work.
Focus on the lifecycle: It is based on the idea of a lifecycle which is indispensable for PPP projects.
Marketing instrument: The seal is used as a communication tool by investors and owners and documents their commitment to sustainability.
Performance is assessed: The German quality seal assesses the building performance and not individual measures. Builders and planners are given plenty of scope to achieve their objectives.
Practical planning instrument: The certificate has been produced by practicing experts for practicing experts. It helps builders and planners to develop buildings fit for the future.
Made in Germany: The system is perfectly in line with the German and European way of building, in terms of building specifications and standards but also long-term market experiences with energy-efficient buildings.

The certification process

If a builder wants to have a planned building certified, he or she appoints an auditor accredited by the DGNB. This auditor will have completed training to ensure they are familiar with the German Quality Seal for Sustainable Building. The auditor will assist the builder in gaining certification. He or she will advise on all sustainable building matters, draw up the objectives for the planned building and ensure that the agreed sustainability criteria are taken into account by the planning team. He or she puts together the objectives of the project in a detailed, build-specific specification.

The auditor then registers the planned building on the DGNB website and submits the specification to the DGNB. The specification contains clear details of all the criteria of the German Quality Seal for Sustainable Building and is a binding declaration of intent for how the builder will realize the planned objectives of the building. The DGNB analyzes the documents submitted by the auditor. If they satisfy the requirements of the quality seal, the builder is given a pre-certificate for the building. He or she is then responsible for implementing the specification. He or she can also use this pre-certificate, issued at gold, silver or bronze level, to market the property.

Once building work gets underway, the auditor documents the planning and construction processes in line with the requirements of the DGNB documentation guideline. Once the building has been completed, the DGNB checks whether the requirements of the pre-certificate have been implemented. An inspector carries out a conformity check, plausibility checks and random checks on the basis of the DGNB documentation guideline.

Finally, the DGNB checks that the entire process has run according to plan. If all the requirements are met, the builder receives a gold, silver or bronze quality seal from the DGNB and German Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Affairs depending on the degree to which requirements are met. The certificate consists of a paper document and plaque for the building.

Certificates for HOCHTIEF projects

In January, Wolfgang Tiefensee, the German Federal Minister of Transport, Building and Urban Affairs, awarded the first DGNB green building certificates (DGNB German Quality Seal for Sustainable Building) at the international trade fair Bau 2009 in Munich.

Two HOCHTIEF projects received awards: The "smarthouse" developed in Munich by HOCHTIEF Projektentwicklung was awarded the gold pre-certificate, while the "Super C", a service center owned by RWTH Aachen which has already been completed, received the bronze certificate.

The "smarthouse" makes optimum use of the natural energy resources available on the site through measures like thermo active ceilings, ground water and earth to air exchangers. Combined with an energy-efficient façade, the building is more than 50 percent below the limit specified by the German Energy Saving Ordinance. Modern lighting control also ensures that daylight is used economically. The DGNB pre-certificate confirms the high quality of the "smarthouse", which is expected to be completed in 2010.

The NRW business unit of HOCHTIEF Construction AG was the general contractor for construction of the 4,600 m² "Super C". The building is powered almost exclusively from geothermal energy. A 2.5-kilometer-deep sensor supplies it with heat in winter and cools the rooms in summer.

HOCHTIEF has an active role in the DGNB and played a significant part in developing the quality seal.