From old school to new school - Sustainability aspects when awarding services in school construction

By project KARMA

Published on 10 February 2025

Germany

Darmstadt

Heppenheim

About this good practice

Sustainability and climate protection are still being applied hesitantly and cautiously in school construction. Political pressure on public buildings to set an example is increasing. School buildings have special construction requirements that make the application of sustainability difficult at first glance. Therefore, sustainability should be taken into account in both the planning and the awarding of contracts.
Procurement is a key tool for the public sector to achieve more sustainable and durable buildings. As part of a master's thesis at the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Applied Sciences in Darmstadt, Germany, an evaluation system was developed that includes sustainability criteria (CO2 emissions, Circular Economy) in addition to the usual criteria (price, etc.). The result is two matrices - one for design services and one for construction services. With this method, it is now possible to include sustainable and even circular aspects in the design and construction of public school buildings. Developed in accordance with public procurement law, the tool is primarily of interest to public authorities. Planners and companies that have already integrated sustainable or circular methods into their work will benefit from higher ratings. If others follow suit, this could also be an incentive for the construction industry to make its business models more sustainable.

Resources needed

The evaluation system was created by student Mara Schubert as part of her master's thesis. As a working student, she worked for the County, which gave her access to the templates and specifications as well as the construction and procurement experts. No other resources were used.

Evidence of success

County Bergstrasse is using this evaluation method for the construction of a circular STEM Education Center. After a successful test phase, the approach will be extended to other public buildings . The interest of other students and practitioners in the results of the master's thesis is very high, since procurement in this area is such an effective but also complex task. Since it is inline with German (European) public procurement law, the method is transferable to all German municipalities.

Potential for learning or transfer

As described above, public procurement is a very complex task. The same applies to school construction, which is subject to many standards and norms, making compliance with these standards and quality requirements particularly important. The inclusion of additional criteria to meet all procurement and technical requirements is very time-consuming. Especially for small and medium sized municipalities, this additional effort is often not feasible. The evaluation method developed can be used by other municipalities (especially in Germany) for tendering construction services for school buildings without significantly increasing the workload for the awarding authority. This removes a major obstacle to greater sustainability. The results can also be used as a guideline in the European context and adapted to national legislation.