Well-being as a guiding principle
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In Switzerland, the debate on sustainability in construction has long focused on energy aspects. Building envelope performance, plant efficiency and emission reduction during operation have been the cornerstones of policies and incentives. Today, however, the design sector faces an additional challenge: achieving overall sustainable quality that integrates environmental, economic and, above all, social dimensions in a balanced way.
The Swiss Sustainable Building Standard (SNBS) was created precisely with this objective in mind. Unlike tools that focus on individual phases or performance, it proposes a holistic structure based on verifiable criteria covering the entire life cycle of a building, from contextual analysis to management. It is a method that broadens the scope of action of the designer and invites them to treat sustainability in an integrated manner, with all the implications that this entails.
Sustainability that takes shape in the living space
SNBS calls for a change of perspective: the building is no longer considered an autonomous entity, but part of a larger fabric made up of relationships, uses and life cycles. Sustainability therefore does not coincide solely with the achievement of optimal performance, but with the ability of architecture to accompany everyday life, adapt to social changes and generate value beyond its physical perimeter.
The social dimension of the standard raises questions that are rarely addressed in specifications: what behaviours does a building encourage? What modes of appropriation does it enable? What fragilities does it help to mitigate, and which ones does it risk amplifying? The indicators relating to common spaces measure not only surface areas, but also the ability of architecture to create opportunities for encounter. The building is thus conceived as a small social infrastructure: courtyards, atriums, loggias and thresholds become places where everyday life can intersect informally, restoring that dimension of proximity once entrusted to squares and now increasingly rare.
In a project, this can translate into truly habitable shared spaces and the possibility of opening parts of the structure to the neighbourhood, encouraging unplanned uses and forms of coexistence between different groups. SNBS does not propose pre-established models, but asks that this relational intention become an explicit part of the project.
Flexibility and adequacy: time as a project material
One of the most significant themes is flexibility of use, also addressed by Minergie-ECO. In a context marked by rapid demographic, economic and technological change, designing for a static scenario is tantamount to introducing a latent form of obsolescence. SNBS shifts the focus from the contingent solution to a strategic vision, calling for the possibilities of transformation over time to be made explicit.
Flexibility is not spatial neutrality, but a structured capacity for adaptation. Time thus becomes a real design material, capable of affecting the duration of the building's use value and resilience.
Comfort and health: quality as a shared experience
The theme of comfort has long been a part of Swiss building culture and finds in the SNBS standard a further opportunity for integration between technical aspects and quality of living. In line with Minergie-ECO, the health of occupants becomes a cross-cutting design criterion: low-emission materials, air quality and acoustic and visual conditions are integral parts of architecture.
Indicators relating to summer comfort, microclimate and water management encourage the building to be conceived as part of a larger system. Shading, ventilation, vegetation and the treatment of external surfaces become design elements on a par with systems, whose use is calibrated to climatic and urban conditions.
Designing for well-being means looking beyond regulatory compliance and questioning the quality of use over time. In the climate of Italian-speaking Switzerland, characterised by longer summers and heavy rainfall, comfort concerns both the interior and the surrounding spaces. In this sense, SNBS contributes to maintaining the well-being of users as a guiding criterion for architectural choices.
The building in the territory: beyond the perimeter of the plot
SNBS interprets the building as part of a larger territorial system. Sustainability emerges from the relationship with public space, mobility, services and biodiversity.
Mobility indicators are not only aimed at reducing parking spaces, but also at making alternatives to the systematic use of cars viable. In Ticino's towns and cities, sustainable mobility takes a quantum leap when it is simple and part of everyday life: secure bike racks, integrated bicycle storage facilities, charging stations and shared services become devices that guide behaviour.
Many projects show that users do not opt for more sustainable modes of transport because they are unwilling to do so, but because they are inconvenient. Providing clear infrastructure allows people to try out different habits, which they often then continue to follow. SNBS does not impose abstract models, but asks to facilitate access to sustainable mobility where it really makes sense.
A methodology that leads to certification
The value of SNBS lies in its methodological approach and its ability to accompany the project from the initial stages. It does not replace the design process, but makes the choices explicit, offering a shared reference point. Certification is not a final fulfilment, but rather the consistent verification of a matured process. The intervention of an independent body introduces a guarantee for the end user, ensuring that the stated objectives are reflected in the construction.
From a professional practice perspective, this approach also changes the dialogue with the client. The standard becomes a common language that allows for transparent discussion of priorities, compromises and costs throughout the process. Many choices, if addressed in the early stages, do not translate into higher costs, but into a different organisation of the project: more adaptable layouts, better integrated shared spaces, climate solutions consistent with the location. Certification makes this work visible and transforms it into a recognisable value, including in economic and management terms.
The situation in Ticino: a cultural challenge
SNBS is still not widely used in Italian-speaking Switzerland for cultural rather than technical reasons. The social dimension struggles to be recognised as an autonomous value, while attention is focused on immediately measurable aspects. Projects that undertake certification become opportunities for collective learning, capable of fuelling broader reflection on design practice.
Beyond the standard
SNBS does not offer definitive solutions. Its contribution consists of asking the right questions and bringing the project back to an integrated vision. If taken as a tool and not as an end in itself, it can restore architecture's responsibility towards lived space and communities. It is in this perspective that the standard finds its deepest meaning.