Make it simple to simply make it: drafting a whole building approach policy

Peer-reviewed paper 2-091-26

The “whole building approach” has been well known in the construction world for quite some time and is used in various contexts, e.g. the collaboration of all parties during a planning and building process, an integrated view of building components and user behaviour, or taking mitigation and adaptation solutions into account at the same time. What they all have in common is that they involve the joint consideration of more than one individual building component or aspect. However, the concept has not yet reached the stage where it fully exploits the interfaces between different construction measures, the synergies between environmental and social aspects, and the resulting windows of opportunity when it comes to retrofit, renovation, refurbishment, or repair.

Even less, this approach is common in the German policy landscape for buildings; neither in the regulation and promotion of energy efficiency, climate-friendly energy supply or greening buildings on the environmental side, nor on the social side in terms of housing suitable for elderly people, family-friendly or affordable housing. In contrast, the magnitude of advice programmes and funding schemes address specific aspects and components of buildings, such as heating systems, PV installation, roof and façade greening, reduction of architectural barriers, or energy saving behaviour. But all these offers address – from the owner’s view – the same building. For a homeowner with no technical background, it can become challenging when it comes to deciding on the right measures and the best order in which to carry them out.

Taking current efforts to mandate the establishment of one-stop shops for the energy performance of buildings within the European Union (cf. Article 18 of the EPBD) into account, the paper drafts a “whole building approach” concept for sustainable buildings designed as a modular advisory and support programme that takes efficiency, energy supply, sufficiency, adaptation, resources and users (now and in future) into account.