Josefina Lindblom, Policy Officer with responsibility for Level(s) at DG ENV, set the scene for procurement professionals with a presentation focused on the uses of Level(s) in the planning, design and financing of building projects. She explained how Level(s) makes it possible to address the EU’s ambitious goal to cut buildings’ embodied carbon by 60­–80 % by 2050 through supporting action on individual buildings, with help from Level(s). She explained how the Level(s) common language works and how it can help inform better public procurement decisions. Josefina further summarised how Level(s) is the basis on which to bring circularity and life cycle thinking into building policy, including, for example, buildings legislation, the EU sustainable finance package and green public procurement criteria, as well as the recovery plans, policies and certification systems in Member States.

Théodora Lizop, Mission Officer at Alliance HQE GBC, gave an overview of how Level(s) indicators can be integrated into public procurement with examples from the LIFE Level(s) project, an EU project delivered in cooperation with the Green Buildings Council in eight EU Member States. She described how LIFE Level(s) is helping to improve the life cycle performance of buildings by explaining the Level(s) methodology to public actors, connecting Level(s) to existing certification schemes, and helping public authorities to incorporate Level(s) indicators into public procurement.

The second half of the webinar focused on examples of initiatives in Member States. The first presentation, by Andrea Moro of the International Initiative for a Sustainable Built Environment (iiSBE) Italia, focused on the role of Level(s) in national procurement schemes in Italy. Next Dr Anna Braune (DGNB) and Heike Fetzer (Heilbronn City Council) shared innovative practices and instruments used by the by the city of Heilbronn to develop Neckarbogen, a model sustainable district in Germany. Finally, Valentina Schippers-Opejko of the City of Haarlem, the Netherlands, shared the city’s experience in integrating circularity principles into procurement for the renovation of public buildings as part of the Urban Agenda Partnership on Innovative and Responsible Public Procurement.

Thank you to the speakers for providing a taste of the huge potential for integrating the Level(s) common language framework into public procurement, encapsulated well in a remark by Mr Moro during his presentation:

“Because this assessment system is the one used by the regions and municipalities in green public tenders [in Italy], Level(s) will have a really strong impact, introducing new assessment topics that are not present today… a huge step forward in promoting a full life cycle approach.”

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