Standards for environmental performance in construction

EN 15804 – basic rules for construction products

The basis for the Assessment Method for the Environmental Performance of Construction Works is EN 15804. This European standard was developed for the preparation of Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs). An EPD is based on a life cycle assessment (LCA), a method that calculates the environmental impact of a product over its entire life cycle.

Within the Assessment Method, additional requirements are defined on top of EN 15804, using scenarios that are applicable to the Dutch context. Under the current Dutch building regulations, product data must be in line with the Assessment Method for the Environmental Performance of Construction Works in order to be registered in the Dutch Environmental Database and applied in environmental performance calculations.

EN 15804 itself is based on a number of international LCA standards. These standards therefore also apply to the Assessment Method:

NEN-EN-ISO 14025:2010 (ISO 14025:2006) – Environmental labels and declarations – Type III environmental declarations – Principles and procedures

NEN-EN-ISO 14044:2006 – Environmental management – Life cycle assessment – Requirements and guidelines

NEN-EN 15978:2011 – Sustainability of construction works – Assessment of environmental performance of buildings – Calculation method

EN 15978 – basic rules at building level

For the assessment of the environmental performance of buildings, EN 15978 applies. The legal scope of EN 15978 is limited to buildings; other construction works, such as civil engineering works, are not normatively covered by this standard. This means that EN 15978 cannot be used as the sole basis for the Assessment Method for the Environmental Performance of Construction Works. In addition, the Assessment Method deviates from EN 15978 at a number of points, including for buildings, as outlined below:

1. Exclusion of modules B6 and B7

In EN 15978, modules B6 and B7 are included at construction works level. In the Netherlands, however, under the Decree on the Living Environment (Bbl), the themes Energy and Environment (material-related impact) are treated as separate pillars. Within the scope of the environmental performance of buildings, energy- and water-related impacts are therefore not included. In the MEPG method, an integrated approach is applied, based on both material-related and energy-related impact.

2. Assessment period always equal to the building lifetime

In EN 15978, the assessment period may be shorter or longer than the lifetime of the construction works, whereas in the Netherlands this is normatively fixed. For buildings, the assessment period is always set equal to the building lifetime. For other construction works (civil engineering works), the assessment period is determined per project, usually 50 or 100 years.

3. Use of the fraction method instead of the rounding-up method

EN 15978 prescribes that, when determining replacements, values must be rounded up to a whole number (rounding-up method). In the Dutch Assessment Method, the choice has been made to round to two decimal places (fraction method). This is because it provides a more realistic modelling of Dutch practice. In practice, replacement decisions are always optimised: if demolition is foreseen within five years, for example, a decision may be made not to replace a window frame, even if its theoretical service life has been exceeded.

For the use of the correct versions, the applicable version of the Assessment Method must be consulted.

Always use the correct version

For the correct version and application, the applicable version of the Assessment Method must be consulted.