About BREEAM Certification

BREEAM Certificate is the world's foremost environmental assessment method and rating system for buildings. It sets the standard for best practice in sustainable building design, construction and operation and has become one of the most comprehensive and widely recognised measures of a building's environmental performance. It encourages designers, clients and others to think about low carbon and low impact design, minimising the energy demands created by a building before considering energy efficiency and low carbon technologies. A BREEAM assessment uses recognised measures of performance, which are set against established benchmarks, to evaluate a building’s specification, design, construction and use. The measures used represent a broad range of categories and criteria from energy to ecology. They include aspects related to energy and water use, the internal environment (health and well-being), pollution, transport, materials, waste, ecology and management processes.

How BREEAM works

BREEAM rewards performance above regulation which delivers environmental, comfort or health benefits. BREEAM awards points or ‘Credits’ and groups the environmental impacts as follows: –Energy: operational energy and carbon dioxide (CO2) –Management: management policy, commissioning, site management and procurement –Health and Wellbeing: indoor and external issues (noise, light, air, quality etc) –Transport: transport-related CO2 and location related factors –Water consumption and efficiency –Materials: embodied impacts of building materials, including lifecycle impacts like embodied carbon dioxide –Waste: construction resource efficiency and operational waste management and minimisation –Pollution: external air and water pollution –Land Use: type of site and building footprint –Ecology: ecological value, conservation and enhancement of the site The total number of points or credits gained in each section is multiplied by an environmental weighting factor which takes into account the relative importance of each section. Section scores are then added together to produce a single overall score. Once the overall score for the building is known this is translated into a rating on a scale of: -Pass -Good -Very Good -Excellent -Outstanding

Who uses BREEAM?

Clients, planners, development agencies, funders and developers use BREEAM to specify the sustainability performance of their buildings in a way that is quick, comprehensive, highly visible in the marketplace and provides a level playing field. Property agents use it to promote the environmental credentials and benefits of a building to potential purchasers and tenants. Design Teams use it as a method to improve the performance of their buildings and their own experience and knowledge of environmental aspects of sustainability. Managers use it to reduce running costs, measure and improve the performance of buildings, empower staff, develop action plans and monitor and report performance at both the single and portfolio level.

What does BREEAM do?

BREEAM: –Uses a straightforward scoring system that is transparent, flexible, easy to understand and supported by evidence-based science and research –Has a positive influence on the design, construction and management of buildings –Defines and maintains a robust technical standard with rigorous quality assurance and certification BREEAM provides –Market recognition for low environmental impact buildings –Confidence that tried and tested environmental practice is incorporated in the building –Inspiration to find innovative solutions that minimise the environmental impact –A benchmark that is higher than regulation –A system to help reduce running costs, improve working and living environments –A standard that demonstrates progress towards corporate and organisational environmental objectives

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