BREEAM 2011

The Building Research Establishment's Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) is the most widely recognised method of assessing the environmental quality of building design for commercial buildings. Energist UK provides a full BREEAM service, offering SBEM and BREEAM assessments all under one roof. Energist UK's BREEAM Team can guide you through the assessment from start to finish, helping you achieve as high a rating as possible - easy!

BREEAM was updated in the summer of 2011 to help streamline the process. There is now just one scheme (previously there were nine), covering 49 common issues across 9 categories. Some issues have also been consolidated where they have common elements, for example, “Daylight and Comfort” are now combined.

Consolidating the Schemes:

BREEAM building types are now grouped and assessed as:

• Commercial (Offices, Retail, Industrial)
• Public (Education, Healthcare, Prisons, Courts)
• Multi-Residential
• Other (including Leisure Centres).
 
Greater Emphasis on “After Care”
Over recent years, reports on buildings such as the “Gherkin” have suggested that its energy consumption is 25%-35% greater than originally designed/planned.  Examples like this provided further reason for the changes. BREEAM New Construction embodies the principle of developing a sustainable building which “includes effective aftercare support to enable and encourage the sustainable operation of the building by those who take it over”.
 
Also, in a similar vein, BRE is aiming to ensure there is a workable certified process in place to gather and keep performance data about buildings in the UK, and make these available for review.
 
Please note: BRE now requires a Registration Fee of £120 on all new BREEAM projects. 

If you would like us to register your site, please give us a call on 08458 386 387.

Building Research Establishment’s Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) is the most widely recognised method of assessing the environmental quality of building design. Energist UK provides a full BREEAM service, offering SBEM and BREEAM assessments all under one roof. Energist UK’s BREEAM Team can guide you through the assessment from start to finish, helping you achieve as high a rating as possible – easy!

Energist UK can provide a comprehensive quotation within 24 hours and our BREEAM team will make the assessment as easy as possible for you. We have registered BREEAM assessors for all BREEAM schemes.

With the Energist team, passing BREEAM is a dream!
Need more information? Call us on 08458 386 387. We’re waiting for your call!

Click to download your FREE BREEAM Factsheet. 

How does BREEAM work in practice?

The assessment process takes the form of an external audit carried out by a licensed BREEAM Assessor, during which credits are awarded relating to a range of environmental issues at global, local and indoor impact levels. The credits achieved are translated into a single overall BREEAM rating (Pass, Good, Very Good, Excellent and Outstanding and a BREEAM certificate is then issued direct from the Building Research Establishment (BRE).

What factors are considered?

BREEAM assesses the performance of buildings in areas including:
• Management: overall management policy, commissioning site management and procedural issues
• Energy: operational energy and carbon dioxide (CO₂) issues
• Transport: transport-related CO₂ and location-related factors
• Water: consumption and water efficiency
• Waste: site waste management and recycle scheme
• Land use & Ecology: Greenfield and Brownfield sites, ecological value conservation and enhancement of the site