The New European Bauhaus (NEB) initiative, characterised by its three dimensions, Sustainability, Beauty and Inclusiveness, seeks to play a critical role in enabling the green transition of the European society, connecting the European Green Deal to buildings, living spaces and experiences. With this objective in mind, NEB promotes a pivotal transformation of the built environment and fosters its active contribution to meeting climate goals and enhancing the quality of life of all citizens. This is achieved through the development and implementation of an innovative holistic approach to design.

The New European Bauhaus self-assessment method

The New European Bauhaus self-assessment method was envisaged to evaluate where a project or activity stands in relation to the NEB dimensions. This is a groundbreaking, multidisciplinary, comprehensive and synergistic approach for the evaluation of projects and activities under the NEB values, principles and ambitions. The method comprises a set of harmonised measurable criteria (i.e. key performance indicators) and specific thresholds, meant to quantify the quality of a project according to specific dimension assessment targets. The key performance indicators are designed based on key aspects relevant to the objectives defined for each dimension, and responding to specific challenges using the NEB ways and approaches. The NEB self-assessment method aligns with established standards, combining, balancing and expanding them to ensure a consistent and comprehensive evaluation of Sustainability, Beauty and Inclusiveness. This process requires the definition of an overarching common understanding and a broad-scope shared culture of high-quality architecture and built environment. By doing so, it ensures a quantitative assessment of environmental performance, health and comfort and life cycle cost and value, without overlooking crucial aspects, such as social equity, aesthetic quality, or resilience against evolving hazard scenarios.

The ultimate goal of the NEB quantitative assessment should not be seen as fostering a competitive environment based on ratings, in which projects with higher scores obtain a better certification level or recognition from a third-party assessor after the construction. The method rather focuses on facilitating the self-assessment carried out by the same parties involved in the design and delivery of the project, fostering the continuous and informed improvement of its performance in terms of NEB principles.

The self-assessment tool

The proposed self-assessment method involves four hierarchical steps that roughly correspond to the assessment levels, i.e. evaluation of (i) indicator scores, (ii) KPI performance classes, (iii) KPI performance class scores, and (iv) dimension performance class. Prior to commencing with the implementation of steps, the user needs to classify the considered project in terms of spatial scale, type and main use. The classification of the project will impact the self-assessment process in various ways, including the modification of indicator weights, KPI weights, and KPI thresholds. The project classification may further affect the definition of indicators, along with their inclusion/exclusion in the calculation of KPI scores.

The self-assessment tool evaluates specific and global performances of projects for the three NEB dimensions. Scores are estimated for all indicators, KPIs and dimensions, however, eventually projects are evaluated in qualitative terms, considering the attained KPI and dimension performance classes to minimise the impact of calculation and input uncertainties. In this context, KPI and dimension performance classes represent the main output of the tool. Nevertheless, the self-assessment tool provides the user with an evaluation of the overall performance, thus increasing the chances of success.