CD3D Building type classification - courthouse

Buildings Assessments Carbon Designer 3D
1

Hello,

I’m trying to model a courthouse in CD3D. Based on the available building types I believe it could fall into the “Office” or “Cultural Building” categories. I’ve tried modeling it both ways and noticed that modeling it as a cultural building increases the GWP of the ventilation component.

Can you provide detail on what types of buildings are included in the “Cultural buildings” category? Are the building type categories based off a code or standard I can reference?

Thanks!

Sonja

2

Hi Sonja!

Thank you for your question. When we defined the first version of Carbon Designer (for the Norwegian government) the building types were based on ‘Bygningskategorier NS-3457-3’ and 'Bygningskategorier TEK’17’which are Norwegian standards that define building typologies.

Under Bygningskategorier NS-3457-3, the subcategory for culture buildings was:

  • 66 Kunst- og kulturbygn (Art and culture building)

Unfortunately, I cannot access the standard right now, so I cannot say what the per definition includes. My educated guess would be:

  • Museums
  • Art galleries
  • Theatres
  • Concert halls
  • Libraries
  • Cultural centers
  • Opera houses

@Kostas do you have access to this standard or the related original documentation?

Under ‘Bygningskategorier TEK’17’ the subcategory for culture building was:

  • Kulturbygning (culture building)

TEK17 defines examples of culture buildings as: Cultural centers, cinemas, accommodation buildings, outdoor bathing facilities, and sports arenas.

Based on these we then defined our building typology and named our building type for this specific group ‘Culture Buildings’.

In Germany, DGNB has a definition as well however there it covers education and culture. They include the following:

  • Teaching and practice rooms
  • Lecture halls, seminar rooms, workshops, practical training rooms
  • Library rooms, reading rooms, sports areas, gymnastics areas
  • Auditoriums (in cinemas, theatres, sports halls, etc.)
  • Stage rooms, studio rooms, rehearsal rooms, exhibition rooms (in museums, galleries, etc.)
  • Sacred spaces

The types of buildings under ‘Culture buildings’ indeed have increased ventilation requirements, which is likely due to the large spaces that are present in such buildings. For your purpose, depending on the size of the courthouse, a culture building type could be the right match.