A Common Data Environment for Biodiversity Integration in Real Estate Development

Integrating biodiversity considerations into urban development projects has become increasingly important for developers, as it contributes to ecosystem services and supports occupiers’ well-being. Moreover, despite the increasing regulation (ESG, EU Taxonomy, SDGs) there are very few successful projects because there is a lack of methods to effectively manage and integrate complex and diverse data from various sources, such as urban ecology, environmental impact assessments, biodiversity surveys or spatial planning data. Based on emerging technologies, a common data environment (CDE) can provide a solution to manage and integrate these data sets effectively. In this paper, we explore the potential of a CDE for biodiversity integration in a Swiss Real Estate Development project. We employed a mixed-methods research approach, incorporating one case study, action research, and iterations to create a minimum viable product (MVP) for testing the technical solution. Additionally, we analysed the potential business case for a CDE in managing biodiversity data and supporting biodiversity integration in real estate projects. Upon examination of the project documentation, it has been observed that the incorporation of biodiversity into real estate development projects is impeded by the insufficient specification of the data requirements, integration, and management of biodiversity. Additionally, the study found that the absence of a business case for developers that incorporates ecosystem services is a significant obstacle to the integration of biodiversity in urban development. This can be attributed to the lack of a business case for developers that incorporates ecosystem services. To address both issues, a collaborative data environment (CDE) can serve as a potential solution by enabling the sharing, collaboration, and management of biodiversity data. For this purpose, an Eco-Module was developed which contain enhanced ecological data such as animal species distribution, habitat and vegetation types as part of the ecological data requirements. Three GeoBIM technological solutions were explored and tested using a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) approach to integrate GIS-specific biodiversity data sets such as shapefiles and raster data with the BIM model. Furthermore, the study has investigated the added value for real estate owners/investors by recommending to further use the data to quantify the overall benefits of eco-services as a base for a solid business case. The incorporation of ecosystem services in the business case for developers can incentivize biodiversity integration in real estate development. A common data environment can provide an effective solution for managing and integrating complex and diverse biodiversity data sets from different scales. The added value comes from the data analysis and ecological simulations such as habitat suitability and species distribution models. In addition, hydrological and climatic data can enrich the CDE. By implementing an ecologically enriched CDE with dedicated Eco-Modules, the platform can raise awareness during the lifecycle of the project on important ecological issues, showing the potential use of biodiversity information for landscape-architectural-urban design and concrete financial and environmental benefits to decision-makers.