NBenefit$
Assess the real value of Nature-Based Solutions
R2M Solution is the official BIMcollab partner for Italy.
NBenefit$ is a digital decision-support platform that helps cities, designers, and professionals assess and compare the environmental, economic, and social impacts of Nature-Based Solutions.
It combines ecosystem service assessment, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), Life Cycle Costing (LCC), and dynamic modelling in a single analysis, enabling users to compare different design scenarios and understand their costs, benefits, and long-term impacts.
In this way, NBenefit$ makes it possible to go beyond the initial cost of an intervention and assess its overall value over time, supporting decisions based on measurable and comparable data.
How does it work?
Based on the characteristics of the site and the intervention, NBenefit$ makes it possible to build realistic design scenarios by defining parameters such as soil type, plant species, size at planting, and irrigation, pruning, and maintenance strategies.
Once the scenarios have been configured, the platform simulates the evolution of the intervention over time, quantifying the ecosystem services generated and calculating impacts and costs throughout its life cycle.
Results are presented through dashboards and indicators that make it easy to compare different alternatives, analyse trade-offs, and identify the solution best suited to the project’s objectives.
What are the benefits?
NBenefit$ brings together aspects that are traditionally assessed separately: ecosystem services, costs, and environmental impacts throughout the entire life cycle.
Sensitivity analyses and simulations also make it possible to assess uncertainty in the results and identify the variables that have the greatest influence on a scenario’s performance.
The result is a more robust and transparent assessment that helps guide design decisions and communicate their value to stakeholders and funders.
Who is it for?
NBenefit$ is designed for Public Administrations, urban planners, designers, environmental and sustainability consultancies, developers, and organisations involved in the design and assessment of Nature-Based Solutions.
It can be used from the preliminary assessment of alternatives through to the definition of design solutions and the quantification of expected benefits. It is particularly useful when comparing multiple scenarios and understanding how different design and management choices affect costs, impacts, and benefits over time.
How can I use NBenefit$?
Different usage options are available: an annual licence for one or more users, a licence dedicated to a specific project, or a full-service option, with the analysis carried out by a specialised team.
In the latter case, the service can include scenario definition, simulation, interpretation of results, and preparation of decision-support outputs.
The cloud-based platform also makes it possible to save and compare scenarios and generate results and reports to share with different stakeholders.