BREEAM (the 'Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method') is widely used in the UK construction industry to assess the environmental performance of new buildings.
Under the current scheme independent BREEAM assessors can give buildings ratings of Pass, Good, Very Good and Excellent. Many public sector projects now require new buildings to achieve a rating of Excellent, including the permanent buildings for the 2012 Olympics. Further Education colleges seeking funding for capital projects from the Learning Skills Council (LSC) are required to achieve a Very Good rating. BREEAM ratings also often appear as obligations in private sector development agreements. To date, over 100,000 buildings in the UK have been certified under the BREEAM and the scheme is increasingly being adopted overseas.
On 1 August the BREEAM 2008 update comes into force. Significant changes have been made to the scheme to respond to other environmental initiatives in the construction industry and to address the public's increasing interest in sustainable and green developments.
Under BREEAM 2008 greater emphasis will be placed on energy efficiency, addressing criticisms of the current scheme that projects with good local transport links and cycle racks can achieve high BREEAM ratings, without actually delivering energy efficient buildings. 'Innovation credits' will be introduced to encourage innovative and experimental designs with genuine environmental benefits and a new higher rating of Outstanding will differentiate buildings of real excellence. Post construction assessments are to become mandatory, whichshould address criticism of the current schemethat poor construction practices are not picked up. The benchmarks for CO2 emissions will also be aligned with the recently established Energy Performance Certificates.
In overall terms it is thought that under BREEAM 2008 it will be more difficult and expensive for developers to achieve the higher ratings. However owners, occupiers, agents and property managers will have greater confidence that buildings with high BREEAM rating will actually be energy efficient.
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