BPS Methodology

How the Biodiversity Performance Score is computed

A structured evaluation framework to objectify the biodiversity performance of a real-estate or development project, at each stage of its development.

The BPS worldwide — one comparable standard

1. What the BPS is

The Biodiversity Performance Score organises the collection, analysis and reporting of data to inform the client's decision and secure design choices. It is the inseparable whole of a methodological framework (rules, criteria, calculation) and a software tool operated by IRICE, ensuring a consistent, traceable and reproducible application.

The BPS is an evaluation and decision-support tool: it structures a project's biodiversity information to inform design choices and secure the approach, upstream of reporting and investment-decision exercises.

2. Reference framework

The BPS produces structured, traceable and verifiable biodiversity information, usable upstream of reporting and investment decisions, consistent with Directive (EU) 2024/825 (environmental claims), the CSRD and the ESRS E4 standard, the SFDR regulation, the EU taxonomy, and the ISO 17620 and ISO 17298 standards for the environmental assessment of real-estate assets and projects.

3. A sequential logic — three project phases

The BPS documents a trajectory, not a fixed state. Each stage is a coherent snapshot of performance at a given moment.

Stage	Purpose	Scope	Result
Initial state	Characterise habitats, soils, continuities, fauna/flora before intervention	5 themes · 21 indicators	Initial BPS
Design	Analyse the project choices against the initial stakes	6 themes · 40 indicators	Project BPS
Delivery	Verify the effective translation of the orientations (design ↔ built gaps)	End-of-works findings	Final BPS
Operations	Multi-year monitoring, management plans, ecological maintenance	—	Roadmap

Themes: Governance & ecological support · Living soils & limiting soil sealing · Plant heritage · Fauna & ecological functionalities · Ecological management & upkeep · Nuisances to biodiversity.

4. How scoring works

Two components per criterion: a performance score and an ecological weighting.

0 → 3 scale per indicator. Levels are neither cumulative nor additive: a single level is retained; where several situations apply, the most constraining one is kept (prudent evaluation).
Weighting: each criterion carries a coefficient favouring structuring criteria, stable within each theme (comparability).
Nuisances: theme assessed as a penalty, 0 → −3 — points reduce the overall score (pollution, lighting, fragmentation…).
« Not applicable » criteria: excluded from the achievable maximum (no artificial penalty).
Missing or unverifiable information → lowest score applied (robustness, anti-overrating).

Example (method disclosed) — GOUV 01.1, Ecological survey

A survey with one pass outside the favourable period = 0; one pass in the favourable period = 1.5; several multi-season passes = 3. Criterion weighting = 1.9. The full weighting coefficients are in the IRICE evaluation grids.

5. Overall score and performance classes

The weighted scores of the applicable criteria are summed, the « nuisances » penalties integrated, then the result is related to the achievable maximum and expressed as a percentage:

Score (%) = ( Σ applicable_weighted_scores + nuisances_penalties ) / achievable_max × 100

The score can be negative if nuisances prevail. It maps to an A+ → G class, a synthetic interpretation cue:

A+

Exemplary

≥ 85 %

High performance

70 – 84 %

Performing

55 – 69 %

Adequate

45 – 54 %

Insufficient

30 – 44 %

Low

15 – 29 %

Very low

0 – 14 %

Critical

< 0 %

This A+ → G percentage scale is specific to the BPS and distinct from the BIOM365 tools' display scale (0-100 score + label).

6. Governance and roles

IRICE owns the framework and operates the tool; it ensures its methodological consistency, the stability of the rules and the traceability of changes. Framework approved by the Biodiversity Standard Council (BSC).
The client remains responsible for conducting the project and its trade-offs.
The Biodiversity Partner is a professional trained by IRICE who supports the project in applying the method, solely as methodological support — without normative-interpretation, validation or decision power over the results.

7. Link with the BIOM365 toolbox

The diagnostics of the BIOM365 tools (Pro mode) can feed the BPS evaluation indicatively (dedicated store, correspondence table); they do not write directly into the score calculation. The tools prepare and document; the BPS structures and aggregates.

8. Transparency, limits and status

Each score maps to identifiable criteria, explicit levels and traceable calculation rules. The framework is evolving: it integrates scientific, professional and regulatory advances without breaking the comparability of evaluations over time. Status: an evaluation framework under continuous improvement, under IRICE / BSC governance.

Source: BPS Building technical manual, ref. BAT 26.05 (IRICE); BPS initial and design evaluation grids.