Quality Seal for Sustainable Buildings (QNG)

What is it?

The Qualitätssiegel Nachhaltiges Gebäude (QNG) is the state quality seal for sustainable buildings issued by the German Federal Ministry for Housing, Urban Development and Building. It defines requirements for ecological, sociocultural and economic quality at two levels: QNG-PLUS and QNG-PREMIUM. Since 21 April 2022 the QNG has been a binding condition for the sustainability class of the KfW funding programmes for efficient buildings (BEG) and climate-friendly new construction (KFN). Without QNG evidence there is no access to the higher funding tier.

Current seal variants cover residential buildings (WG23) and several non-residential building types. Methodologically the QNG is tightly linked to the BNB and draws on the ÖKOBAUDAT data basis. At its methodological core sits the whole-life carbon calculation of the building to DIN EN 15978, with greenhouse gas data from EPDs as the input.

Who is affected?

Directly addressed are owners of residential and non-residential buildings who want to draw on KfW funding. Without QNG conformity there is no funding commitment in the sustainability class. Architects and lead planners are directly affected too, since they source the data for the life cycle calculation and prepare it according to QNG rules.

Indirectly, and decisively from a manufacturer’s perspective, the QNG affects every manufacturer whose products are installed in QNG-certified projects. Their EPDs and data sets in ÖKOBAUDAT feed into the building LCA. In practice that means manufacturers without an EPD to EN 15804+A2 lose access to QNG-relevant projects as the QNG transition proceeds. Project planners depend on concrete, standards-compliant data sets in ÖKOBAUDAT. Generic data sets remain methodologically admissible but score conservatively in the assessment, which makes product-specific EPDs a differentiator in the tender.

Which deadline applies?

The QNG has no single cut-off date. It has been in force since 2022 and runs continuously. Methodologically it is currently in a decisive transition.

• Currently: the LCA calculation in the QNG follows the calculation values table of 2023 and therefore EN 15804+A1. End-of-life data from product-specific EPDs is not currently admissible as input and is served through the calculation values table instead.
• Transition under way: the ÖKOBAUDAT data basis has already moved to EN 15804+A2, with the QNG transition to follow. Concrete dates are communicated through the QNG portal in the handbook annexes.
• After the transition completes: product-specific EPDs to EN 15804+A2 become usable for verification. That is the decisive lever for manufacturers to carry their own optimisation and module D advantages into the QNG balance.

Building the EPD data basis on A2 now means being ready to feed in from the switch-over date. Postponing it means running behind your own data basis once the transition reaches the market.

What has to be done?

For manufacturers of construction products the programme is clear.

• Update EPDs to EN 15804+A2: +A1 holdings remain valid during the transition but lose their effect. Being +A2 capable means being immediately admissible in the LCA verification once the QNG switches.
• Report module D: end-of-life and recycling assumptions become verifiable input data with the +A2 switch. Manufacturers with a clean module D data basis differentiate themselves from competitors who only have A1-A3 on a solid footing.
• Maintain the ÖKOBAUDAT listing, company-specific for your own products or association-specific through sector EPDs. The ÖKOBAUDAT listing is the formal connection point for the QNG. Without a listing your product is calculated against the generic data set for its category.
• Check module completeness: A1-A3 (production), A4-A5 (construction), B1-B7 (use), C1-C4 (disposal), D (reuse and recycling). How complete the declared modules are feeds straight into the assessment of the final product, the building.
• Establish an EPD update routine: EPDs are valid for five years. Planning update cycles before expiry avoids gaps in the ÖKOBAUDAT listing.
• Communicate for specification: building owners and planners in KfW-funded projects increasingly ask for product-specific data. Align marketing and sales material accordingly.
• Think about the BNB in parallel: the methodological closeness to the BNB is high, and a consistent EPD data basis serves both routes without duplicated work.

What happens if you do not?

There are no direct sanctions. The QNG is a voluntary funding criterion, not a legal act. The consequence is structural in market terms: no EPD data basis means no QNG-capable data set, and no QNG-capable data set means no access to the higher KfW funding tier for the building owner. That translates into real loss of market share to manufacturers with a better data position.

In residential construction in particular, where KfW funding often decides whether a project is viable at all, the data position becomes the decisive selection criterion in the tender. On top of that, the QNG is methodologically close to the EU CPR requirements and to the EPBD reform. Being set up for the QNG therefore covers substantial parts of the coming EU requirements as well. Not being set up builds a deficit on two levels at once.