Additional sustainability requirements for buildings

Blogs Real estate, Construction & Environment Annelies Plooij
An outdated school building being demolished and housing being built in its place. The development of a hotel in an existing building, or the realization of a healthcare apartment complex. These are some examples of possible construction projects. Since Jan. 1, 2024, the Environment Act and various underlying regulations have come into effect. The ''2012 Building Code'' no longer exists. In its place has come the ''Besluit bouwwerken leefomgeving'' (BBL). New projects that require construction will have to take into account these requirements of the BBL (to the extent no transitional law applies). Despite the fact that the entry into force of the Environment Act is still quite recent, the first amendments to the BBL already glimmer on the horizon. With regard to their content, some blows must still be thrown in the wind, as this is only the consultation phase of the impending amendments. It is expected that most of the changes will actually start to claim their place in the BBL. Many of these requirements touch on the subject of sustainability. We briefly outline the additional sustainability requirements, which are therefore in the pipeline for inclusion in the BBL (and the underlying regulations) for the time being, in this blog.

The introduction of a minimum requirement for ''nature-inclusive'' construction

The BBL is going to require that a new structure to be built has sufficient nesting, resting or habitats. These include nesting, resting or residence areas for the protected animal species (house sparrow, the swift and several species of bats) that depend on the structure for those locations. The explanatory note to the proposed amendment lists some examples of such places: the partition cavity, the fascia or fascias (the capping of the gutter), ornamental paneling on the exterior of the building or dwelling, ornamental chimneys, or nesting stones to be bricked in, special roof tiles.

The possibility for a custom rule for solar on roofs

The BBL is equipped with a power to establish a custom rule in connection with the use of roofs for renewable energy. The use of rooftops for renewable energy is considered an effective use of space. The power can be used for all functions assigned to a building, except for the residential function. It further concerns buildings with a use area of 250m2 or more. In a custom rule, a maximum can be used for the requirements that apply to new construction, except for the excepted functions (including the use function of industry). For those functions of use, a maximum connection can be made to the building-related energy use of those functions of use.

The tightening of environmental performance requirements for homes and offices

The environmental performance requirements for homes and offices are tightened in the BBL. The current environmental performance requirement (environmental impact score) is set at 0.8 for homes and 1.0 offices. Based on the current determination method, the new requirement of 0.5 and 0.85 respectively will apply. However, the package of changes to the BBL also includes a revision of the determination method. That revision leads to a higher impact score to be calculated. In short, the reason is that multiple/new environmental categories are considered for the calculation of the impact score. The determination method follows the European standard revised in 2019 (EN15804:+A2).

The introduction of environmental performance requirements for other use functions

Other use functions will be affected by the introduction of an environmental performance requirement. For example, sports complexes or stores will also face an environmental performance requirement. Most of these other use functions will have an environmental performance requirement (environmental impact score) of 1.85.

Special environmental performance calculation for building with multiple usage functions

In practice, it is considered difficult if a building houses multiple usage functions without a predominant usage function (measured against the background of the area of use). The BBL will provide a solution for this. For buildings with multiple uses, an environmental performance requirement will apply to the entire building. The environmental performance requirement will be weighted per user function according to surface area. This means that the environmental performance of the building must be assessed against the area-weighted environmental performance requirements of the functions present in that building to which a requirement applies. The condition is that the building is located on one and the same plot.

Determination parts building for the calculation of the environmental performance

The BBL is equipped with a provision what in the calculation of the environmental performance must be included. Specifically, this involves determining which elements in, on and outside a building must be included in the calculation of environmental performance. The precise elaboration runs along with the underlying regulation. In the explanatory notes it is indicated that the content of this provision is identical to the way it has been communicated until now through the National Environmental Database (hereinafter: NMD foundation). The amendments (may) result in additional sustainability requirements for buildings. It is good to already be aware of the intended changes now, so that you can take them into account where necessary. The consultation phase is often the first step in changing regulations and usually gives a good indication of which direction things are heading. We will of course keep an eye on the further course of the proposed changes to the BBL (and the underlying regulations: the Environmental Regulations).   Do you have any questions? Feel free to contact Annelies Plooij or one of the other specialists from the Property, Construction and Government team. They can provide you with further information if required and will try to answer your questions to the best of their ability.