Green Guide to Specification
BREEAM is the Building Research Establishment (BRE) Environmental Assessment Method, first launched in the UK in 1990. It sets best practice standards for the environmental performance of buildings through design, specification, construction and operation.
The Green Guide to Specification, also referred to as the Green Guide, is part of BREEAM. It was first published by BRE in 1996 offering a simple guide to the environmental impacts of building materials based on numerical data and including more than 1,500 specifications for six generic types building:
- Commercial
- Educational
- Healthcare
- Retail
- Domestic
- Industrial
Environmental rankings are based on Life Cycle Assessments (LCA), using BRE's Environmental Profiles Methodology. They are arranged on an elemental basis so users can compare materials and components as they compile specifications:
- External walls
- Internal walls and partitions
- Roofs
- Ground floors
- Upper floors
- Windows
- Insulation
- Landscaping
- Floor finishes
Data is set out as an A+ to E ranking system, where A+ represents the best environmental performance and E the worst. A summary of ratings is provided by The Green Guide rating, which is a measure of overall environmental impacts covering:
- Climate change
- Water extraction
- Mineral resource extraction
- Stratospheric ozone depletion
- Human toxicity
- Ecotoxicity to freshwater
- Nuclear waste (higher level)
- Ecotoxicity to land
- Waste disposal
- Fossil fuel depletion
- Eutrophication
- Photochemical ozone creation
- Acidification
This allows specifiers to select items based on their preferences or priorities.
You can find out more about the Green Guide at: https://www.bre.co.uk/greenguide
[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings Wiki
- BES 6001 Responsible sourcing of construction products.
- BRE articles on Designing Buildings Wiki.
- BRE Buzz articles on Designing Buildings Wiki.
- BREEAM.
- Building Back Better: Circularity and BREEAM.
- Building Research Establishment.
- Cradle to cradle product registry system.
- Ecopoints.
- Environmental profiles.
- Green guide to specification, certified environmental profiles and BREEAM
- Green Seal.
- Is the desire to reduce the embodied carbon of new buildings damaging the UK steel industry?
- Material resource efficiency in construction: Supporting a circular economy.
- Recyclable construction materials.
- Specification.
- Sustainable materials.
Issue support documents
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Issue support documents are written for named BREEAM Issues or sub-issues. More info. (ac) = awaiting content.
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[edit] Management:
- BREEAM Sustainability champion
- BREEAM Environmental management
- BREEAM Considerate construction
- BREEAM Monitoring of construction site impacts
- BREEAM Aftercare support
- BREEAM Seasonal commissioning
- BREEAM Testing and inspecting building fabric
- BREEAM Life cycle cost and service life planning
- BREEAM Stakeholder consultation (ac)
- BREEAM Commissioning (ac)
- BREEAM Handover (ac)
- BREEAM Inclusive and accessible design (ac)
- BREEAM Post occupancy evaluation
[edit] Health and Wellbeing
- BREEAM Visual comfort Daylighting (partly ac)
- BREEAM Visual comfort View out
- BREEAM Visual comfort Glare control
- BREEAM Indoor air quality plan
- BREEAM Indoor air quality Ventilation
- BREEAM Thermal comfort
- BREEAM Internal and external lighting (ac)
- BREEAM Indoor pollutants VOCs (ac)
- BREEAM Potential for natural ventilation (ac)
- BREEAM Safe containment in laboratories (ac)
- BREEAM Acoustic performance
- BREEAM Safety and security (ac)
[edit] Energy
- BREEAM Reduction of energy use and carbon emissions
- BREEAM Energy monitoring
- BREEAM External lighting
- BREEAM Low carbon design
- BREEAM Passive design
- BREEAM Free cooling
- BREEAM LZC technologies
- BREEAM Energy efficient cold storage (partly ac)
- BREEAM Energy efficient transportation systems
- BREEAM Energy efficient laboratory systems
- BREEAM Energy efficient equipment (partly ac)
- BREEAM Drying space
[edit] Transport
- BREEAM Transport assessment and travel plan
- BREEAM Public transport accessibility
- BREEAM Sustainable transport measures
- BREEAM Proximity to amenities
- BREEAM Cyclist facilities
- BREEAM Alternative modes of transport (ac)
- BREEAM Maximum car parking capacity
- BREEAM Travel plan
- BREEAM Home office (ac)
[edit] Water
- BREEAM Water consumption
- BREEAM Water efficient equipment
- BREEAM Water monitoring
- BREEAM Water leak detection (ac)
[edit] Materials
- BREEAM Hard landscaping and boundary protection
- BREEAM Responsible sourcing of materials
- BREEAM Insulation
- BREEAM Designing for durability and resilience
- BREEAM Life cycle impacts
- BREEAM Material efficiency (ac)
[edit] Waste
- BREEAM Construction waste management
- BREEAM Recycled aggregates
- BREEAM Speculative floor & ceiling finishes
- BREEAM Adaptation to climate change
- BREEAM Operational waste
- BREEAM Functional adaptability (ac)
[edit] Land Use and Ecology
- BREEAM Site Selection
- BREEAM Ecological value of site
- BREEAM Protection of ecological features
- BREEAM Minimising impact on existing site ecology
- BREEAM Enhancing site ecology
- BREEAM Long term impact on biodiversity (ac)
[edit] Pollution
- BREEAM Impact of refrigerants
- BREEAM NOx emissions
- BREEAM Flood risk management (ac)
- BREEAM Surface water run-off (ac)
- BREEAM Reduction of night time light pollution (partly ac)
- BREEAM Reduction of noise pollution
Once an ISD has been initially created the '(ac)' marker can be removed
This particular index is based around the structure of the New Construction and RFO schemes.