BNB Vario: Further Development and Expansion of the BNB

Client

Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development (BBSR)

Period

2022 – 2025

Results

Seven new profiles on future-relevant criteria
BNB-Vario: Applicability across various types of use
Data basis for updating the BBSR service life list for building components

How can biodiversity promotion, resource conservation, and climate protection be holistically and measurably implemented in construction? As part of the further development of the Sustainable Building Assessment System (BNB), we contributed our expertise to the conceptual and structural design of new evaluation criteria. The result was the creation of new criteria profiles, including those for biodiversity, life cycle costs, and water – for a future-proof and more widely applicable system (“BNB Vario”).

The starting point

The Sustainable Building Assessment System (BNB) is a central instrument of the Federal Republic of Germany for ensuring quality and sustainability in public construction projects. Anchored in the Federal Ministry of Building and managed by the Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs, and Spatial Development (BBSR), it provides the foundation for the sustainable planning, construction, use, and operation of public buildings. Federal states, municipalities, and increasingly private developers also rely on it.

Against the backdrop of new societal and ecological demands, the BNB system is undergoing a fundamental transformation. The aim of developing BNB 2.0 is to more strongly integrate future-relevant topics such as sufficiency, global biodiversity, external climate costs, and circular economy, and to significantly expand its scope in line with the BNB-Vario approach—through profiles that can be applied independently of the type of use.

Our mandate included expert contribution to this transformation: from analyzing existing criteria to developing new, universally applicable profiles.

Our contribution

Our team first analyzed the existing BNB criteria in terms of their relevance, currency, and alignment with national and international developments. Building on this, we developed new and revised profiles that will form key components of BNB 2.0 and BNB Vario:

A new profile for local biodiversity in building construction, including biodiversity indicators for integration into the BNB basic tool.
A new profile for global biodiversity.
A new profile for external climate costs.
Revised profiles for mobility and water (including the “water as a circular resource” indicator).
A revised profile for land-use efficiency.
A revised profile for life cycle costs, including a practical calculation tool.

In addition, we prepared the data basis for the updated and expanded BBSR service life table for building components (cost groups 300 and 400)—a central foundation for reliable life cycle cost calculations and environmental assessments.

The new profiles follow the BNB Vario principle: they are no longer tied to specific building types or uses, but are versatile in application—for example, in kindergartens, libraries, exhibition halls, or mixed-use buildings. This creates a user-friendly assessment system that better meets the needs of planning and construction practice and allows for more flexible implementation of sustainability criteria.

With the finalization of the content, a robust foundation has been established to transfer the development into practice. The BNB system thus becomes a central tool for the sustainable transformation of construction in Germany, providing impulses that are also relevant for other standards and countries.