The DGNB sustainability concept. The new quality of building.
The DGNB assesses buildings and urban districts which demonstrate an outstanding commitment to meeting sustainability objectives. The sustainability concept of the DGNB System is broadly based and goes beyond the well-known three-pillar model. The DGNB System covers all of the key aspects of sustainable building: environmental, economic, sociocultural and functional aspects, technology, processes and site. The first four quality sections have equal weight in the assessment. This means that the DGNB System is the only one that gives as much importance to the economic aspect of sustainable building as it does to the ecological criteria. The assessments are always based on the entire life cycle of a building. Of course the focus is always also on the wellbeing of the user.
It is crucial that the DGNB does not assess individual measures but instead the overall performance of a building or urban district.