Level(s) Building Sustainability Performance

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This event is organised in partnership between European Commission DG Environment, World Green Building Council, and Irish Green Building Council with the support of Department Communications Climate Action and Environment (DCCAE)  and Engineers without Borders.

With nZEB coming into force early next year in Ireland, the EU is now moving beyond the focus on energy efficiency to look at sustainable buildings and overall resource efficiency.

The European Commission launched the pilot phase of ‘Level(s)’ on September 28, 2017. It is a new EU framework for sustainable buildings, which will help transform the building sector. It is the first tool of this kind that has been developed for use across the whole of Europe. ‘Level(s)’ is a solution for the crucial piece of policy for the EU’s sustainable building market: an EU ‘framework’ of core performance indicators – to define the future direction of how we assess and benchmark sustainable buildings across Europe.

The aim of ‘Level(s) is to mainstream sustainable building assessment by creating a common approach, building on and integrating with the work of existing certification tools – and to shift our sector towards a ‘life cycle’ approach as part of the EU’s Circular Economy agenda.

This special workshop invites local expert stakeholders to:

• learn about the EU framework;
• understand its potential impacts on the Irish  market;
• work together to explore how it might be implemented in local conditions.

Stakeholder feedback from the workshop will be used to inform European Commission, the 24 member Green Building Councils (GBCs) of World GBC’s Europe Regional Network plans for implementation of the framework in the region.

SCHEDULE

9:15-9:30              Registration

9:30-9:35              Welcome and Introduction to the workshop – Pat Barry, CEO, Irish Green Building Council

Presentations

9:35-9:50              An EU Framework for Sustainable Building Assessment: The European Commission’s Approach
Josefina Lindblom, European Commission, DG Environment, Responsible for the work on “sustainable buildings

9:50-10:00            The European Context: How We Grow the Sustainable Building Market
Audrey Nugent, Senior Policy Advisor, World Green Building Council’s Europe Regional Network

10:00-10:15         Lifecycle Thinking in the Building Sector: The Government’s Approach
Ciaran O’Connor FRIAI-State Architect, OPW

10:15-10:25         How IrishGBC is Supporting the Move Towards Lifecycle Thinking
Pat Barry, CEO, Irish Green Building Council

10:25-10:55         Why a Common Approach is Key for the Market – Industry panel discussion

• Louise Ellison, Head of Sustainability, Hammerson – Becoming Net Positive and the challenges of sustainability measurement.
• Stefan Lowe, Dublin City Architects, Dublin City Council – The challenges of using Life Cycle Assessment in Ireland
• Karl Downey, Group Sustainability Executive – CRH-Piloting Level(s)
• Nellie Reid – LEED Fellow -Meehan Green

10:55-11:25         Networking Break

Roundtables

During roundtables, stakeholders will explore different areas of the EU Framework, and collaborate to provide expert feedback on key barriers and solutions to its national implementation.

• Group A: GHG Emissions / Lifecycle Costing / Resource Efficiency
• Group B: Water Efficiency / Health & Comfort / Resilience

In relation to each area in the framework, groups will explore the following:

11:25-11:50         Market Readiness – What is happening in these areas of building assessment now, what widespread initiatives already support assessment in these areas?

11:50-12:20         Barriers – What key barriers to wider adoption of these assessment indicators do you see?

12:20-12:50         Solutions – What potential solutions can you suggest to overcome these barriers, and which organisations might be well positioned to support such solutions?

12.50-13.00         Plenary feedback session

Lunch

SPONSORS

The Department of Communications Climate Action and Environment through its partnership in the GPP4Growth Interreg Europe Project are working to support public authorities to seize new opportunities for using their purchasing power to stimulate green growth, mostly by integrating new award criteria in calls and tenders with particular attention to environmental considerations. A key objective is to improve the implementation of national/regional resource efficiency policies, providing incentives to businesses to integrate environmental factors and costs when producing goods and/or providing supplies, services and works.

 EWB-Ireland is dedicated to bridging the gap between academia, industry and NGOs to give Irish engineers and scientists opportunities to learn about and contribute to sustainable development globally and is a registered charity in Ireland. They are partners in a 3-year European Union funded development education and awareness raising program, “Build Solid Ground”, running in 7 countries, which aims to build critical understanding and active engagement in actions towards achieving UN Sustainable Development Goal 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities.

SPONSORSHIP & EXHIBITIONS OPPORTUNITIES

For further information on sponsorship and exhibition opportunities please click here or contact Marion.

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