(by Andrzej Foltman, Darragh Jones)
Anyone who works in the Dutch real-estate industry is likely already familiar with the terms BVO & GO. Put simply, BVO is the gross floor area, and GO is the net floor area of a building or development. As these values represent the potential saleable space of a development, they are two of the most critical indicators of any given project. As a technology scale-up in the construction industry, what's important to our clients is important to us. So read on to understand these concepts in more detail & learn a little about how we integrate them to our process & technology at OMRT.
We'll explain BVO, followed by GO, and finally explain how these measurements are utilized in our Design Scout Product.
OMRT's Design Scout cycling numerous floorplan permutations. BO/GVO outputs are calculated for each
BVO - Gross Floor Area:
To define it precisely, the BVO of a space is the area, measured at the floor level along the outer perimeter of the upright partition structures enclosing it. In case of a partition being shared between adjacent spaces, measurements must be taken to the centre of the relevant partition.
When determining the boundary line of a floor area a niche, a recess or a protruding building part, with a base smaller than 0.5 m2 should be ignored.
The BVO of a building is a sum of BVOs of all the interior spaces belonging to the building.
In addition, the BVO of a building must include:
— the area of a stairwell, elevator shaft and service shaft at each floor level;
— the area of a free-standing external column, if it is greater than or equal to 0,5 m2.
When mentioning BVO in our calculations, we’re actually displaying the BVO of a building.
BVO of building-related outdoor areas of a building is a sum of the BVO of all covered/uncovered building-related outdoor spaces that belong to the building. Balconies, loggias and galleries are not included in the BVO of a building. They belong to the BVOs of building-related outdoor areas of a building.
GO - Usable area:
The GO of a space or group of spaces is the area, measured at floor level, along the inner perimeter of the upright partition structures enclosing it.
The following are not included in the determination of the GO:
— the area of parts of floors above which the net height is less than 1.5 m, with the exception of floors under stairs, ramps, etc.;
— an elevator shaft;
— a stairwell, link hole or void, if its surface area is greater than or equal to 4 m2;
— a free-standing building structure (other than a staircase) if its horizontal cross-section is greater than or equal to 0.5 m2;
— a service shaft, if its horizontal cross-section is greater than or equal to 0.5 m2;
— a load-bearing inner wall.
The GO of a building is a sum of GOs of all the interior spaces belonging to the building. This excludes the building-related outdoor areas such as galleries and loggias.
In our calculations at OMRT, we always use the GO of a residential area which is a sum of GOs of all the residential spaces in the building, as explained above.
Integration in the OMRT product
The OMRT Design Scout is built for two things; speed & insight. And having the right, relevant measurements is critical for both of these.
Because metrics like BVO & GO have a large effect on the total saleable area of a building or project, they are critical to the success of a building development. We as OMRT recognize the importance of these metrics, so we always aim to maintain a high degree of accuracy in the calculations.
This is when the magic of the OMRT hub really comes in. We can then generate thousands of design variants, calculate the value of each variant's GO, and use this information to maximize the available space of a build. Making best use of the limitations that come with every project. Like you see below, the countless variants can then be reviewed & analysed for the best solution.
The full value of the solution is clear. Thousands of Possibilities, clear understanding of each one's outcome