170
2
Existing Environmental Quality Urban
Indexes
In order to devise a method for assessing the “environmental” performances of a
building lot, several towns in Italy, in Europe and worldwide have included standardized procedures (“urban indexes”) in their building regulations, in order to calculate the general impacts of town-planning activities.
In general, for calculating the indexes, it is necessary to know the types of materials/actions present in the building lot and the area they cover (m 2 ). By applying
different “weights” to every material/action, a value is obtained, proportional to its
“environmental quality”, through the use of simply calculation algorithms. These
values make it possible to obtain a number, which expresses the overall characteristics of a specific building lot. In order to ensure a suitable performance level, it is
generally necessary to plan an activity in such a way as to get an index not lower
than a certain threshold.
The common characteristics of the indexes is to provide a relatively simple and
clear calculation methodology, aiming to plan building areas without any fixed
schemes, since it is based on the achievement of minimum performance levels,
which let you free to choose the various materials/actions to apply within a batch.
Biotope Area Factor (BAF) Index – Berlin
As early as in 1990,
1 the city of Berlin adopted an index called Biotope Area
Factor (BAF), in order to reduce the impacts already present in the town centre and to facilitate an ecological upgrade of the urban context. The BAF is the
ratio between ecologically “effective” surfaces and the total area of the land.
From a qualitative point of view, the index aims to safeguard the microclimate, to control the use of the land and water, to improve the quality of plants
and the habitat for animals, to improve the vital space for human beings by
means of the creation of yards with green areas (or areas with a certain permeability, such as self-blocking ground or gravel), green roofs, green walls or by
means of infiltration of rain water to surfaces with extended vegetation.
1 “The Biotope Area Factor as an Ecological Parameter” – Berlin, 1990.
2
Existing Environmental Quality Urban
Indexes
In order to devise a method for assessing the “environmental” performances of a
building lot, several towns in Italy, in Europe and worldwide have included standardized procedures (“urban indexes”) in their building regulations, in order to calculate the general impacts of town-planning activities.
In general, for calculating the indexes, it is necessary to know the types of materials/actions present in the building lot and the area they cover (m 2 ). By applying
different “weights” to every material/action, a value is obtained, proportional to its
“environmental quality”, through the use of simply calculation algorithms. These
values make it possible to obtain a number, which expresses the overall characteristics of a specific building lot. In order to ensure a suitable performance level, it is
generally necessary to plan an activity in such a way as to get an index not lower
than a certain threshold.
The common characteristics of the indexes is to provide a relatively simple and
clear calculation methodology, aiming to plan building areas without any fixed
schemes, since it is based on the achievement of minimum performance levels,
which let you free to choose the various materials/actions to apply within a batch.
Biotope Area Factor (BAF) Index – Berlin
As early as in 1990,
1 the city of Berlin adopted an index called Biotope Area
Factor (BAF), in order to reduce the impacts already present in the town centre and to facilitate an ecological upgrade of the urban context. The BAF is the
ratio between ecologically “effective” surfaces and the total area of the land.
From a qualitative point of view, the index aims to safeguard the microclimate, to control the use of the land and water, to improve the quality of plants
and the habitat for animals, to improve the vital space for human beings by
means of the creation of yards with green areas (or areas with a certain permeability, such as self-blocking ground or gravel), green roofs, green walls or by
means of infiltration of rain water to surfaces with extended vegetation.
1 “The Biotope Area Factor as an Ecological Parameter” – Berlin, 1990.