Webinar highlights: Member States learn how Level(s) can support national recovery
68 representatives of environment ministries, public authorities and government agencies across the EU joined a European Commission webinar on 15 September to learn how the Level(s) common language on sustainable buildings can support national climate and recovery objectives.
In the opening presentation, Barbara Steffner (Policy Officer, DG ENV) discussed the EU Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) and highlighted how Level(s) indicators can be used to integrate provisions for measuring the whole life carbon of buildings within national plans for a sustainable built environment. Josefina Lindblom (Policy Officer and Level(s) Lead, DG ENV) followed with a comprehensive overview of Level(s) and highlighted its advantages in giving Member States a common language system of sustainability performance assessment for buildings, before highlighting use cases and testimonials from actors who have made use of Level(s) in the context of national legislation, regional legislation and certification.
The second half featured best practices from public authorities in Member States engaged in integrating a full life cycle approach into national and regional built-environment policies and recovery plans. Presenters included Roos Servaes, Circular Economy Facilitator at the Public Waste Agency of Flanders (Belgium) and Niels Bruus Varming, Senior Executive Advisor at the Danish Housing and Planning Authority.
For the final presentation, Alexander Hadzhiivanov (Associate Director, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development - ERBD) shared the bank’s work to foster a Green Economy Transition and explained how Level(s) supports the efforts of financial institutions by providing cradle-to-cradle environmental indicators, while also considering occupants’ wellbeing, economic value and risk. Thank you to all participants for your attendance and for your active participation in the question-and-answer discussions.
Level(s) gets a boost in the Commission’s vision for a New European Bauhaus (NEB)
The European Commission has highlighted Level(s) within its recent Communication setting out the funding and policy actions that will deliver the New European Bauhaus initiative. The Communication, published as part of President Ursula von der Leyen’s State of the European Union address on 15 September, details how the EU will deliver its vision for creating beautiful, sustainable and inclusive places, products and ways of living. The Communication contains a specific promise on page 16 to create new 'digital tools for e-learning and assessment to support the use of the Level(s) framework.’ Watch this space for more details on those! Read more.
Commission addresses financial services sector on Level(s) and the circular economy
Thanks to Barclays for inviting Emmanuelle Maire, Head of Unit responsible for circular economy and green growth at the European Commission (DG ENV), to join a virtual panel on the topic of circularity in construction on 29 September. Emmanuelle addressed 58 investors from global institutions on why circularity in buildings matters and its role in carbon reduction targets.
As a statement of intent, she underlined how ‘the EU is the first continent to commit to climate neutrality by 2050, with a climate law, adopted in April, which sets in stone the carbon neutrality objective and the need to reduce emissions by 55 % by 2030.’
Emmanuelle made it clear that achieving this objective is only possible with the engagement of the buildings and construction sector, which accounts for half of all extracted materials, half of total energy consumption as well as one third of water consumption and waste. She drew specific attention to Level(s), which equips stakeholders to contribute to EU objectives, by providing a common language for monitoring and assessing the sustainability performance and circularity of buildings.
The Commission presentation was well received, with Magali Anderson, Chief Sustainability and Innovation Officer at Holcim (a global manufacturer of building materials) describing the EU focus on circular construction as ‘music to my ears’, considering the firm’s own full-lifecycle sustainability strategy and net-zero carbon commitments.
Have you joined the Level(s) LinkedIn group yet?
The group is the perfect place to share experiences of Level(s) with the sustainable building community. You’ll also be among the first to learn about Level(s) tools, e-learning materials, events and publications. Since the group launched in March it has grown to more than 700 members from all over Europe. Join the LinkedIn group.
Noticeboard
New publications
Learn how Level(s) can help you in your working environment with our ‘what’s in it for me?’ series
The Level(s) website now features a set of four reader-friendly factsheets highlighting the benefits of Level(s) to:
Public authorities, policy makers and procurers. Read more.
Architects, designers, engineers and quantity surveyors. Read more.
Clients and investors, including property owners and developers. Read more.
Construction companies and contractors, manufacturers, asset managers, facilities managers and occupants. Read more.
They are an ideal introduction to how Level(s) works, its main benefits and how to get started ─ all explained from the perspective of people working in your profession or industry. Find out what is in it for you by reading the factsheet for your profession and help to raise awareness by sharing the new publications with your contacts.
A quick guide for building certification and assessment professionals
If you are involved in building certification or sustainability assessments, why not take a few minutes to find out how Level(s) can complement your work? A new factsheet highlights the advantages of aligning building assessment and certification systems with the Level(s) common language framework. It also features perspectives on the benefits of integrating Level(s) into your sustainability criteria, with case examples by large certification providers including the German Sustainable Building Council and BREEAM-NL (the Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method). Read more.
Level(s) in practice series
If you have explored the introduction to Level(s) on the European Commission website and are looking for examples of how you might use the framework in practice, then this series of two factsheets is for you. Both publications feature interviews with policymakers, construction experts, and practitioners to help you understand how embracing Level(s) can help you to integrate core sustainability principles in your working environment.
Level(s) in practice series edition 1 focuses on how Level(s) can help you to apply circularity principles in your working environment. Read more.
Level(s) in practice series edition 2 focuses on measures to reduce whole life carbon emissions. Read more.
New videos
Level(s): Europe’s answer to a more sustainable built environment
This short new animation introduces those involved in sustainability policy, as well as representatives of built environment industries or associations, to the role of Level(s) in reducing buildings’ impact on our planet and explains why it makes sense to be part of the Level(s) rollout. Read more.
Why use Level(s) on your next construction project?
If you are a built-environment sector professional, this short animation will show you some of the many benefits of using Level(s) in your working environment. Take a few moments to find out about some of the many ways in which Level(s) performance indicators can help you make buildings more sustainable, at any stage of a building’s life cycle. Read more.
The Lindblom Interview
Interview with Shane Donatello and Aleksandra Arcipowska, European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC-Seville)
Left to right: Josefina Lindblom, Aleksandra Arcipowska, Shane Donatello
Please tell our readers about your organisation and your own role as it relates to sustainable buildings?
The JRC is the science and knowledge service of the European Commission, with the mission to support EU policymaking with independent evidence. Our team in Unit B.5 on circular economy and industrial leadership has had a very particular role in the development of Green Public Procurement (GPP) criteria for office buildings and of Level(s), a common European framework for sustainable buildings. We conduct technoeconomic research, engage with a diverse range of stakeholders and deliver results that can be directly used in policy implementation.
What can you tell our readers about progress underway as part of the Renovation Wave and how does Level(s) fit in to this?
The Renovation Wave is a cornerstone for delivering the European Green Deal and building renovation features heavily in national recovery and resilience plans. Level(s) can be used to ensure that investments in building renovation respect a common framework that is truly holistic, while also being in line with EU objectives for sustainable building policies. Level(s) can account for possible trade-offs in renovation activities too. For example, renovation to decrease use phase carbon emissions often corresponds to an increase in embodied carbon.
Sustainable buildings feature prominently in the Commission’s New European Bauhaus (NEB) initiative. Why is this?
The NEB is about the sustainability and quality of the spaces we live in. We spend around 90 % of our time inside buildings and even when outside, our experiences are influenced by the buildings that surround us. So, it is only natural that Level(s), a framework for assessing building sustainability, will have an important influence on the NEB. Ideally the NEB will take the Level(s) macro-objective structure as a starting point and build upon it, extending to neighbourhood level and the spaces between buildings.
What does the Level(s) common language framework mean for building assessment schemes and the built-environment sector?
Level(s) is an opportunity for green building assessment schemes to find common ground. It is also an opportunity for new assessment schemes, clients or building professionals to find inspiration and guidance, be it via very simple Level 1 concepts, very detailed Level 2 design calculations or Level 3 in-situ measurements. Level(s) sets out a common methodological approach for measuring 16 indicators across 6 underlying macro-objectives that cover environmental, social and economic considerations. While the methodology is set, users can define their own benchmarks.
What are you working on now and what comes next?
We are working closely with the EU Taxonomy team to bring elements of the Level(s) framework into the technical screening criteria for defining green investments building construction, renovation and demolition. For example, in the climate change mitigation criteria for new construction that were published in August 2021, there is already a reference to the life-cycle Global Warming Potential (GWP), as in indicator 1.2 of the LEVEL(s) framework. It is also important to mention that we are currently revising the EU GPP criteria for office buildings, with a view to expanding the scope to also include schools and social housing, and with the idea to base the new GPP criteria on Level(s) indicators. Special attention will be given to renovation.
Events
Save the date: the Level(s) virtual conference
24 November 2021, 9:30–12:00 CET
The virtual conference will introduce the Level(s) common language framework for assessing and monitoring the sustainability performance of buildings and will present a new e-learning and tools package to help you get going. Join us to deepen your understanding of how to use Level(s) for measuring performance at every life cycle stage.
Why attend?
Learn how Level(s) benefits your organisation/your networks
See how buildings professionals are using Level(s)
Access new tools and e-learning materials
Understand how Level(s) supports EU sustainability policy
Get your questions answered
Who should attend?
Professionals involved in the design, planning, financing, construction and product manufacturing aspects of building projects, as well as asset managers, contractors and facilities managers
Representatives of associations, agencies and public authorities (including policymakers) with responsibility for the built environment (building/construction, real estate etc.)
Sustainability managers
Newsletter subscribers and LinkedIn Group members will be notified when it is time to register online.
date
24/11/2021
Organiser
Directorate-General for the Environment (DG ENV)
What’s your level?
Quiz
What’s covered by the Level(s) sustainability performance assessment framework?
The Level(s) framework is made up of macro-objectives and indicators to help you improve the sustainability performance of buildings, but how much do you know about them? Test your knowledge with our short quiz. Read more.
About this newsletter
This newsletter is issued at least four times a year as part of the Level(s) initiative, and managed by Ecorys Europe on behalf of DG ENV.
