BREEAM

Building Research Establishment’s Environmental Assessment Method is the leading and most widely used environmental assessment method for buildings. It sets the standard for best practice in sustainable design and has become the de facto measure used to describe a building's environmental performance. It is a credit based assessment system covering the following aspects of a building and the construction process: - Management, health and wellbeing, energy, transport, water, materials, waste, land use and ecology, pollution Assessments can be made on the following types of project: whole new buildings development of similar buildings such as shops shell and core buildings major refurbishments of existing buildings new build extensions to existing buildings existing building fit-out The assessment is carried out in two stages, a design stage assessment leading to an interim rating, and a post construction stage assessment after which the final certificate and rating is awarded. There is also the optional pre-assessment report, which is a useful tool when developing your initial designs, showing you where you need to improve to get the required rating. Buildings are rated on a scale of Pass, Good, Very Good, Excellent and Outstanding. All government-funded buildings require a rating of Very Good, and some local authorities now require a BREEAM rating for planning permission. BREEAM In-Use: This scheme is slightly different to the other BREEAM schemes, as it is a self-assessment with an independent auditor confirming the assessment to allow a certificate to be awarded.