Overview of the legal framework of the Green Deal

ÖGNI

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ÖGNI

The ÖGNI - Austrian Society for Sustainable Real Estate is an NGO (non-governmental organization) for establishing sustainability in the construction and real estate industry. The ÖGNI was founded in 2009 and is a cooperation partner of the DGNB (German Sustainable Building Council), whose certification system was adopted, adapted to Austria and has been continuously developed since then.

The DGNB certification system
It is characterized by its holistic consideration of economy, ecology and user comfort. Based on a uniform system, it can be precisely adapted to different building uses and country-specific requirements. The system is already used nationally and internationally and, with the DGNB pre-certificate, offers an optimal planning tool right from the start. The DGNB system also processes all environmental goals of the EU taxonomy regulation. Certification according to ÖGNI includes the assessment of the EU taxonomy requirements.
Whether new buildings, existing properties or renovations, whether individual buildings or entire districts or interiors - the uniform assessment system of the DGNB certification consistently considers all essential aspects of sustainable construction and management. These include the six subject areas of ecology, economy, socio-cultural and functional aspects, technology, processes and location. The first three subject areas are given equal weight in the assessment. This makes the DGNB system the only one that attaches just as much importance to the economic aspect of sustainable construction as to the ecological criteria. The qualities that go beyond the three-pillar model have a cross-sectional function within the DGNB system and are weighted differently. The assessments are always based on the entire life cycle of a building.

Objectives:

Certification of environmentally and resource-saving buildings with high economic and social efficiency Buildings should have a positive impact on the health, well-being and performance of their users

In terms of content, the DGNB certification system is based on three essential principles:


Life cycle assessment

Holistic approach

Performance orientation
The path to the DGNB certificate:
Preparation and Registration:
The client first contacts an ÖGNI auditor, who accompanies the project from the beginning and supports it from the application for certification to the completion of the process. In this phase, an ÖGNI consultant can also be called in for a pre-check, the preparation of planning and verification documents and the presentation of optimisation potential. After project registration, the client concludes a certification contract with ÖGNI. There is no contractual relationship between ÖGNI and the auditor/consultant. This guarantees the greatest possible objectivity of the ÖGNI inspection body during certification.
Submission:
The auditor/consultant compiles the documents required to assess the building and estimates the sustainability of the building or neighbourhood using the ÖGNI criteria catalogue. The auditor (submission by the consultant is not possible) then submits all the necessary documents and evidence to the ÖGNI certification body for the conformity check.
Conformity Check:
Independent auditors from ÖGNI carry out a conformity check of the content of the documents. ÖGNI then sends its audit report to the auditor. The auditor sends his statement back to ÖGNI and encloses further documents if required. ÖGNI then carries out a second review and sends the second audit report to the auditor. If all parties agree with the audit result, the client gives his final approval. The audit result is then confirmed by ÖGNI. This process usually takes 6 to 8 weeks.
Result and Award:
Once the results have been approved, ÖGNI sends a notification of the certification result to the client and auditor. Finally, ÖGNI awards the pre-certificate or certificate for the corresponding project.
Presentation of the Project:
After approval by the client and submission of a project description including informative project photos, the ÖGNI publishes the newly certified project on the ÖGNI website at the request of the client.
Rating levels:
Clear target values ​​have been defined for each criterion of the DGNB certification system, and a maximum of 10 points are awarded for achieving them. The auditor gives his assessment of this depending on the degree of fulfillment of a criterion. All criteria in a topic area are then summarized to form a partial fulfillment level. The partial fulfillment levels of the topic areas of ecology, economy and socio-cultural and functional aspects each account for 22.5% of the overall assessment of a certification. For the technical criteria, it is 15% and the process quality is rated at 10%. The location accounts for 5% of the overall assessment. When certifying districts, the location quality is integrated into the criteria. The location therefore has a significant influence on the overall assessment of the district. The weighting is evenly distributed here. Ecology, economy, socio-cultural and functional aspects, as well as technology and process are each rated at 20%. For existing buildings, i.e. the assessment of buildings in operation, the weighting is as follows: ecology 40%, economy 30% and socio-cultural and functional aspects 30%. Technical and process criteria are not considered separately here.
If the overall level of compliance is 50% or higher, the building receives the DGNB silver certificate. If the level of compliance is 65% or higher, the DGNB gold certificate is awarded. To receive a platinum DGNB certificate, the project must achieve an overall level of compliance of > 80%. Existing buildings also receive a bronze award. To achieve this, the project must achieve an overall level of compliance of at least 35%.

The application of the DGNB system:
In order to offer a precise and meaningful certification for the respective building use, the individual criteria are weighted according to their importance for the respective usage profile and entered into an evaluation matrix. Depending on the degree of fulfillment, the DGNB certificate is awarded in platinum, gold or silver.
For existing buildings, the building in operation certification, a bronze award is also possible. The DGNB uses this to recognize buildings (new buildings, existing buildings and renovations) and districts that meet sustainability criteria in an outstanding manner.

Further information: