Planning sustainable open spaces and play areas

© LA.BAR Landschaftsarchitekten bdla

Making people aware of the value and benefits of open spaces: How to make landscape architecture more sustainable? If you want to build sustainably, you can follow guidelines and be benchmarked using assessment systems and certificates. 

 Open spaces, which also include play areas and sports facilities, still play a marginal role in sustainability certification. The existing systems of the German Sustainable Building Council (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Nachhaltiges Bauen, DGNB) and the Assessment System for Sustainable Building (Bewertungssystem Nachhaltiges Bauen, BNB) of the Federal Ministry for Housing, Urban Development and Building still focus primarily on building construction. In order to promote the sustainability of municipal open spaces, the FLL(German Landscape Development and Landscaping Research Society) presented "Guidelines for Sustainable Open Spaces" in 2018, which were further developed into an "Assessment System for Sustainable Open Spaces (BNF)" as part of a research project in 2023. 

Here is a status report on the relevance of sustainability in the 'green' sector,

Relevance of sustainability in the 'green' sector 

In the face of multiple crises, starting with the COVID-19 pandemic, then the war in Ukraine, followed by an energy crisis coupled with high inflation, as well as other crises such as the conflict in the Middle East conflict, the crisis in German politics, the severe housing shortage and so on, the greatest threat to humanity, the climate crisis, seems to have slipped somewhat out of focus. If you focus on it again, you will realise that the construction industry, and with it the green sector as part of it, is highly relevant: this concerns both climate protection, i.e. efforts to curb global warming by reducing the use of resources and, in particular, carbon emissions, and climate adaptation, i.e. measures to adapt cities and rural areas to climate change, which can no longer be stopped but can be mitigated, and to make them fit for the future. The importance of the construction industry in general and the green sector in particular is often underestimated, even by its own stakeholders: for example, around 90% of the consumption of mineral raw materials and around 52% of construction and demolition waste in the total amount of waste generated is attributable to the construction industry. The cement production process alone accounts for 8% of CO2 emissions worldwide, in particular due to the high energy consumption involved in burning lime. Alongside the transport sector, the construction industry is the economic sector that regularly and almost consistently fails to meet its climate targets. So, there are plenty of challenges facing all those involved in construction! 

Yet what can planners, responsibly-minded developers, local authorities and innovative manufacturers do to meet these challenges? One approach, which will be described in the following, is to consistently align one’s own actions with the principles of "sustainability". This can be done at company level; the obligations laid down in the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) now also apply to small and medium-sized companies. This can be done at a political level, for example by following the proposal made by a broad alliance of associations and chambers to transform the state building regulations into "rebuilding regulations". This can be done at manufacturer or product level, for example by obtaining Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) or other certificates such as the "Blue Angel" ecolabel or the FSC or PEFC certifications for wood product. Or by making the entire "product" of the construction industry, namely the construction project, sustainable. Sustainable, or future-proof, always includes not only ecological sustainability by emphasising the positive effects of a project while at the same time minimising its negative effects, but also economic sustainability, e.g. by using durable and robust materials, as well as socio-cultural sustainability, i.e. increasing the usability of a project, its acceptance and, last but not least, its beauty. These "three pillars of sustainability", are supplemented by process quality, i.e. optimising the processes of a project between planning, construction and management, by the technical quality of a project's products and construction methods and, finally, by the quality of the location and how it is dealt with. 

Certification of building-related outdoor facilities  

To date, there have been three systems for certifying the sustainability of open space projects, all of which relate to building construction: the DGNB systems, the Assessment System for Sustainable Building (BNB) of the Federal Ministry for Housing, Urban Development and Building and the housing industry's NaWoh (Sustainable Housing) system primarily cover building-related outdoor facilities at different scales. 

More than half of the 46 criteria set out in the "Sustainable Urban Neighbourhoods" certification system of the German Sustainable Building Council (DGNB), which tends to focus on commercial projects and whose first version was published in 2012, already covered open spaces in full or in part. The DGNB has since developed this module into further system variants. The Spreepark in Berlin is currently the first purely open space project to be certified using the DGNB's "Sustainable Urban Neighbourhoods" system. 

The NaWoh (Sustainable Housing) certification system of the Federal Association of German Housing and Property Development Companies (GdW) aims to raise the quality standards of residential buildings. Outdoor facilities are key or sub-aspects of around a quarter of the system's 41 criteria. They are particularly relevant in the main category of "quality of living" as a further development of the socio-cultural pillar of sustainability. 

Certification for federal construction projects 

With its Assessment System for Sustainable Building (BNB), which includes the module "Outdoor facilities of federal properties" (BNB_AA), the German Federal Ministry for Building developed an independent system for building-related outdoor facilities in 2012, which was the first of its kind in Europe. In line with its sustainability strategy, in which sustainable building plays a pivotal role, the German Federal Government has continued to advance sustainability certification in recent years: this includes the development of modules for other building types, such as the system variants for laboratory buildings (BNB_LN) and educational buildings (BNB_UN). For outdoor facilities, the BNB_AA system variant was revised in 2016 and is widely used for federal construction projects as a result of several decrees issued by the Federal Ministry for Building. This applies in full to civilian construction projects carried out by the Federal Government, such as projects of the customs authorities, the federal police as well as the federal ministries and their subordinate authorities. In the case of building projects of the German Armed Forces and projects abroad, it is applied "mutatis mutandis". 

The practical guide "Sustainably planned outdoor facilities on federal properties - recommendations for planning, construction and operation", which was published in 2012, has now been integrated in short form into the Federal Ministry for Building’s "Guideline for Sustainable Building" and was republished in 2018. 

One focus of application in federal construction projects is the optimisation of processes and the early introduction of the principles of sustainable building, if possible, as early as the bidding stage. It is increasingly becoming standard practice to define requirements for a project from a sustainability perspective and for stakeholders to check whether they can be implemented. One example is the interdisciplinary "Forum JKI" planning competition recently held by the Julius Kühn Institute in Berlin-Dahlem, in which the sustainable and interdisciplinary approach of the first-prize winners was particularly lauded. 

Increased training and further education for employees in the building authorities accompany these developments: since 2018, a total of around 150 sustainability coordinators have been trained in six seminars organised by the Network for Sustainable Federal Building and two seminars organised by the Berlin Chamber of Architects.

Certification for state and subsidised construction projects  

The BNB modules are now being used not only for federal construction projects, but increasingly also for state and local government projects. While some federal states still hesitate, others are using current new construction and refurbishment programmes to incorporate the principles of sustainable building into the project process. The reason for this is often a political one, such as calls for a city consistently aligned with the principles of sustainability or pressure from the public demanding that public funds be used sustainably. A current example is the school construction offensive of the state of Berlin, as part of which hundreds of schools are being refurbished and dozens newly built and extended using funds now running into tens of billions of euros. The state of Berlin has stipulated that building construction projects worth 10 million euros or more must be BNB-certified. As part of these projects, outdoor facilities worth 500,000 euros or more are also certified. 

Another relatively new field of application is subsidised construction, i.e. construction projects that are implemented through additional federal funding. Due to the high requirements imposed by the Federal Government, such projects are also subject to proof of sustainability. One example from the field of sports ground construction is the "Am Tannenbusch" sports facility in Voerde, North Rhine-Westphalia, which was the first sports facility in Germany to be certified to BNB_AA in silver quality. 

As part of the "Adapting urban areas to climate change" funding programme, there are currently a large number of municipal projects that require sustainability reporting as a result of federal funding commitments.  

However, only few landscape architecture firms actually have the necessary expertise to assist in obtaining the required sustainability certifications or to verifiably align their own projects towards sustainable approaches. One of the reasons for this may be that for a long time there was no system for open spaces independent of buildings, such as parks and squares. 

To address this, the German Landscape Development and Landscaping Research Society (FLL) established the "Sustainability of Open Spaces" working group back in 2014 with the aim of promoting the sustainability of municipal open spaces. After four years of work, the working group was able to present the "Guidelines for Sustainable Open Spaces" in 2018. Although the guidelines explicitly were not intended as a certification system, they did contain criteria for categorising a project according to the "traffic light model" (green, yellow, red), which were developed from the "primary basis" BNB_AA. Whilst this did not yet provide an "overall grade" for a certification, it did provide a good picture of the strengths and weaknesses of a project. Anyone wishing to assess a project in terms of sustainability could either work through all 55 criteria checklists or answer one to three key questions per criterion as a quick or "basic survey". This was supplemented by an "on-site survey" questionnaire. 

As applying the Guidelines for Sustainable Open Spaces was still entirely voluntary and projects could not be compared due to the lack of benchmarks, a group from the FLL's "Sustainability of Open Spaces" working group took the initiative in 2021 to develop a practical assessment system from the guidelines. A research team headed by Prof. Dr Hendrik Laue from the University of Applied Sciences Ostwestfalen-Lippe, Höxter site, was formed that used funding from the German Federal Environmental Foundation (Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt, DBU) to critically review the criteria of the Guidelines for Sustainable Open Spaces until mid-2023 and subjected them to a practical check based on a total of five real-life projects.  To this end, tandems of project initiators and specialised planning offices were formed, which applied the Assessment System for Sustainable Open Spaces (BNF) for the first time. Parties involved were the City of Leipzig, the LA.BAR planning office, the City of Schweinfurt, the Planorama planning office, the City of Nuremberg, the German Federal Horticultural Show Association (Deutsche Bundesgartenschau-Gesellschaft, DBG) and the RMPSL planning office. Based on the results of this initial application, the system was streamlined once again and is now available in a first "marketable" version with a total of 37 criteria. The FLL is currently planning to publish the BNF system and introduce a "sustainability certification according to FLL", in which sustainability coordinators will be trained in the same way as FLL-certified tree and playground inspectors. Project developers, such as local authorities, can then submit the projects checked by these sustainability coordinators to the FLL to have them certified. In this way, for example, the EU taxonomy can be taken into account.

Pilot projects involved in the development of the BNF system 

The criteria were trialled and applied in a pilot project, the International Horticultural Exhibition (IGA) 2017 in Berlin, back when the Guidelines for Sustainable Open Spaces were being developed. The working team at the time not only developed the criteria set out in the guidelines, but also horticultural show-specific criteria, such as the preparation and dismantling of the horticultural show. 

When selecting the new pilot projects for the BNF system, emphasis was placed on including projects that are typical of the green sector, such as horticultural shows, as well as projects that differ in terms of project status and typology. In the following, three projects are briefly presented as examples: 

Bürgerpark Schweinfurt (Schweinfurt Citizens' Park)

The Bürgerpark Schweinfurt was selected as a pilot project because it was originally conceived as a state horticultural show and seemed well suited as a conversion site thanks to its clear system boundaries and an ambitious sustainable planning concept. Although the horticultural show had since been cancelled, the site could still be considered as a permanent facility. The project attained a good fulfilment rate of 76.2% overall. The project was characterised by a good vegetation concept featuring a network of biotopes, good dual use of infrastructure facilities with the adjacent allotment garden site and neighbouring sports fields, good integration of the existing trees and the planning of paths and buildings on previously sealed areas. 

Leipzig Palmengarten 

Together with the Richard Wagner Grove, the Leipzig Palmengarten was selected as a pilot project as it is an example of how an existing facility can be further developed. Issues addressed included the preservation of registered historic gardens, the restoration of water lines in need of renovation and the refurbishment of a playground as a kick-off project. The project also attained a good fulfilment rate of 74.6%. However, it should be noted that as parts of the existing facility were neither available for planning nor for redesign, the frame of reference, known as the "system boundary", was partially unclear and only few documents were available.

Parkbogen Ost in Leipzig  

Parkbogen Ost in Leipzig was selected for its holistic and well-thought-out design of a green corridor on a former suburban railway line that is of significance to the city as a whole and introduces innovative ideas whilst sensibly incorporating existing biotopes. Key features that were particularly emphasised were the well-developed network of footpaths and cycle paths, the detailed signage system, the diversity of amenities and usable spaces and the way in which plants were used. Among the pilot projects, the project attained the best fulfilment rate of 77.4%. 

Basis for high-quality and sustainable projects 

Even if there is currently no explicit obligation for many open space projects, with the exception of federal projects, state construction in some federal states and subsidised construction, to obtain sustainability certification, project developers and planners should, in their own interest, monitor their projects using verifiable criteria. Meanwhile, there are well-elaborated assessment systems for both building-related outdoor facilities and municipal open spaces: these are important and helpful tools for improving the quality of projects and promoting their acceptance in discussions with politicians and the public. Especially in the context of the climate crisis and stricter political regulations, such as the EU taxonomy, this is a great opportunity for the green sector to prove how efficient and sustainable it is.

Author:

Eike Richter is a landscape architect, partner in the Berlin office LA.BAR Landschaftsarchitekten bdla, chairman of the Berlin/Brandenburg regional group of the bdla, member of the FLL working group on the sustainability of open spaces and coordinator of BNB outdoor facilities.