What is BREAM
Contents |
[edit] Introduction
The Building Research Establishment’s (BRE’s) Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) is a scheme for assessing the environmental performance of buildings. There are five BREEAM technical standards, of which the most commonly used is ‘New Construction’ for homes and commercial buildings.
The other four technical standards are:
- In-Use (for commercial buildings),
- Refurbishment & Fit-Out (for homes and commercial buildings),
- Infrastructure (for civil engineering and public realm projects), and
- Communities (for masterplanning).
[edit] What areas of environmental performance does BREEAM cover?
BREEAM is a form of whole-building life cycle assessment, accounting for how the individual building is designed and the way materials and products are used within that design. It assesses ‘sustainable value’ across nine categories, including energy, health and wellbeing, and materials.
Each category is broken down into further areas of performance, known as ‘assessment issues’, some of which are mandatory. The categories are not weighted equally, as BREEAM aims to balance social, economic, and environmental impacts to create a complete picture of sustainability.
The result of an assessment is a rating of up to six stars, which correspond to the BREEAM rating system from Outstanding, through Excellent, Very Good and Good, to Pass. There is also an Acceptable rating, but this is only a feature of In-Use assessments.
[edit] When should a BREEAM assessment start?
There are two stages of assessment and certification. An interim certificate is issued based on a design stage assessment. The final certificate and rating are awarded post-completion.
Engaging a BREEAM assessor at an early stage of a project helps to guide the design, giving the project team greater certainty that they are on course to achieve the desired rating - especially for Excellent or Outstanding.
BREEAM 2018 requires several reports to be completed before planning submission. If design work is carried out without considering its impact on BREEAM scoring, costly and time consuming changes to the scheme might have to be carried out, or a lower rating accepted as the final result.
See also: An introduction to BREEAM
[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings
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.