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The German seal of approval DGNB was developed by the German Sustainable Building Council and the former Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Affairs in 2007. Over the past years, the seal was supplemented by diverse types of use and updated in line with the developments in the energy policy as well as standardisation. The DGNB system has an international version which allows it to be used world-wide. The valuation of the real estate is based on 6 theme areas:

  • Ecological quality
  • Economic quality
  • Sociocultural and functional quality
  • Technical quality
  • Process quality
  • Location quality

NATURE OF THE DGNB CERTIFICATION

  • Focus on the indoor quality when considering the leasehold improvements, e.g. with regard to the material ecological quality of the building materials used.
  • Close cooperation of the DGNB with the responsible persons of the federal government for sustainability in the real estate market
  • Proximity to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the UN and Agenda 2030
  • High rating of the environmental life cycle assessment results and the global environmental impacts of the entire building, from manufacturing to operation and removal.
  • Reference to the sustainability indicators of the “Level(s) framework“
  • DGNB Bronze – only for existing buildings
  • DGNB Silber
  • DGNB Gold
  • DGNB Platin
Since the end of 2019, buildings with a compensated or ideally negative annual CO2 balance can be distinguished as “climate-neutral” according to the specifications of the DGNB. Moreover, for certified buildings “Agenda 2030 Bonuses“ were designated for such projects which contribute particularly to climate protection and the implementation of the UN sustainability goals.