The problem

Buildings present sustainability challenges in many forms, including energy efficiency, materials use, and their requirements for maintenance and modification to meet changing demands. Many EU and governmental policy initiatives exist to promote and support sustainable construction, but there is no generally accepted system for assessing the sustainability of existing or planned buildings. The development of agreed and tested methods could assist in creating a system of certification and labelling that would bring clarity to the move towards ever more sustainable buildings.

Overview:

LEnSE will develop a system to assess the environmental and economic sustainability of buildings as a way of preparing for a labelling system to certify building sustainability standards.

The project will:

• Identify the range of issues that must be included in the sustainability assessments of buildings
• Develop an assessment methodology for a representative range of the key issues, and test the methodology on case studies
• Set up a consultation network of key stakeholders to reach consensus on the methodology and to promote its incorporation into good practice in building design and construction

Contribution to policy development:

• LeNSE will provide practical support for policy initiatives promoting sustainable construction in the building industry.
• It will develop a methodology that could be used to develop policies for the certification and labelling of sustainability standards.
• The project will help Build consensus among stakeholders concerning the requirements for sustainability standards and policies.
• It will improve networking among European experts able to influence policy.

Project deliverables

• Quality Assurance Manual – February 2006
• Review of existing methodologies – June 2006
• The LEnSE Assessment Methodology – December 2006
• Report on case study assessments – November 2007
• Final plan for using and disseminating the project’s results – December 2007

Dissemination

• Project website – from January 2006
• Stakeholder meetings – June 2006, September 2007
• Transnational expert workshops – November 2006, April 2007, September 2007
• Distribution of methodology to the building industry and the Commission – December 2007
• Delivery of conclusions to standardisation committees in charge of building design and construction – December 2007

Technical information

Project acronym: LEnSE
Project’s official full title: Methodology Development towards a Label for Environmental, Social and Economic Buildings
CORDIS ref: http://cordis.europa.eu/search/index.cfm?fuseaction=proj.simpledocument&PJ_RCN=8327636&CFID=1489293&CFTOKEN=23088095
Specific webpage: http://lensebuildings.com
Proposal/contract no: 022718
Start date: 21 December 2005
Kick off meeting: December 2005
Completion date: 20 December 2007

Coordinator:
Name: Belgian Building Research Institute
Abbreviated name: BBRI
Address: Lozenberg 7, B-1932 St-Stevens-Woluwe
Country: Belgium
Tel: +32-26557711
Fax: +32 26530729
Website: http://www.bbri.be

Partners

Name: ARMINES/ENSMP
Abbreviated name: ARMINES
Country: France

Name: Building Research Establishment
Abbreviated name: BRE
Country: United Kingdom

Name: Bauphysikbüro Oliver Kornadt
Abbreviated name: KORNADT
Country: Germany

Name: Imperial College of Science Technology and Medicine
Abbreviated name: IMP-COLL
Country: United Kingdom

Name: Piode
Abbreviated name: PIODE
Country: Netherlands

Name: Applied Industrial Technologies
Abbreviated name: APINTECH
Country: Greece

Name: Planair Bureau d’ingenieurs
Abbreviated name: PLANAIR
Country: Switzerland

Name: Czech Technical University, Faculty of Civil Engineering
Abbreviated name: CVUT
Country: Czech Republic

Name: European Profiles
Abbreviated name: EURPRO
Country: Greece