Environmental performance in existing buildings
Two Assessment Methods can be applied to calculate the environmental impact of interventions in existing buildings, such as renovation, transformation, refurbishment and maintenance. On this page, you can find out which methods are available, in which situations they can be applied, and download both methods.
For interventions in existing buildings, environmental performance can be calculated using two different Assessment Methods. The Assessment Method Renovation & Transformation is applied when calculating the environmental performance of interventions at building level. The Assessment Method Environmental Performance Maintenance is used for interventions at project level, where maintenance or refurbishment takes place at the level of building elements.
Both methods make it possible to gain insight into the environmental impact of interventions, optimise a plan, and compare different design variants.
Introduction
In the existing building stock, renovation, refurbishment or maintenance interventions are regularly carried out to improve the technical condition, functionality or quality of a building. This may be required due to ageing, changing user needs, new performance requirements or sustainability ambitions.
To provide insight into the environmental impact of such interventions, two Assessment Methods have been developed that can be applied.
Status and application
For existing buildings, there is currently no legal requirement to perform an environmental performance calculation. The Assessment Methods have been developed to enable such calculations in various situations, for example:
- comparing and optimising design and project variants, for instance in the context of strategic asset management
- defining tender criteria in procurement processes
- application within private standards or practice guidelines, such as the National Guidelines for Housing Sustainability (NHW)
- monitoring and reporting the CO₂ impact of material use at project or organisational level, for example in the context of ESG and CSRD reporting
Assessment Method Environmental Performance Renovation & Transformation (MPG R&T) |
|
The primary application of the MPG R&T Assessment Method is the comparison and optimisation of plans for transformation or major renovation projects in which the entire building is addressed. This method enables different renovation or transformation scenarios to be compared and optimised.
In addition, the MPG R&T Assessment Method can be applied within strategic asset management to compare different scenarios, such as consolidation/continued use, minor renovation, major renovation, and disposal/demolition (renovation where all elements are removed).
The Assessment Method Environmental Performance Renovation & Transformation is a further development of the Addendum Refurbishment & Transformation, which is superseded with the introduction of this method.
Objective
Result |
Assessment Method Environmental Performance Maintenance (MPO) |
|
The MPO Assessment Method is used to compare and optimise plan variants related to maintenance and refurbishment interventions. The MPO method is applied at project level.
A project includes all related maintenance and refurbishment activities for which the environmental performance is determined and may consist of:
The scope differs per project and is determined by the building elements involved and the intended quality improvement of the project.
This quality improvement is expressed in the desired condition and functionality of the building after completion of the works. The scale of the intervention can range from activities on a single building element within one building to interventions covering multiple buildings or an entire district. Within the MPO method, two calculation approaches are defined: one for one-off interventions and one for planned interventions.
Objective
Result |
When to apply which Assessment Method?
For existing buildings, the two Assessment Methods described above are available: MPG R&T and MPO. The choice of method depends on the objective of the calculation and the scale level of the intervention.
On a separate page, we explain when to apply each method and how to compare different plan variants.
Further development of the methods
The Assessment Methods for renovation, transformation, refurbishment and maintenance will be further developed in the coming period. Work is also underway on new Category 3 data for maintenance, the expansion of use scenarios, and the implementation of the methods in validated calculation tools.
Read more about the developments of the environmental performance in existing buildings
Environmental performance in practice
The environmental performance of buildings and infrastructure is applied in different ways, depending on the type of project and the phase you are in. Whether it concerns new construction, existing buildings, or developments in policy and regulations, each application requires a different perspective and, in some cases, a different Assessment Method.
This page is part of an overview that shows how environmental performance is applied in various situations and when to use which approach.
Applying environmental performance in new construction
Read more news:
