BREEAM
BREEAM stands for Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Methodology. Developed by the Building Research Establishment (BRE) in 1990, BREEAM evaluates a building’s environmental performance across a range of categories:
- Energy efficiency
- Water management
- Waste reduction
How?
Assessments are carried out by independent assessors who evaluate the building’s
- Design
- Construction
- Operation
The assessment process considers factors such as the building’s
- Location
- Materials used
- The management of its environmental impact.
What value does it offer in-use?
- Lower running costs. BIU identifies ways to continuously improve efficiencies through monitoring, evaluation and setting performance targets that are assessed against tangible benchmarks.
- Increased asset value and recognition. Improved asset performance means that BREEAM-certified buildings support lower vacancy rates, higher rental premiums and provide a reputable and meaningful route to ESG.
- Improved health and well-being. High standards of internal environments, such as air quality and lighting, and the promotion of active, healthy lifestyles are recognised to improve wellbeing, productivity and satisfaction of people living or working in the asset.
- Recognising resilience. BIU considers an asset’s exposure to a range of risks from climate change and other drivers including flooding, pollution, natural hazards, and security.
- Supporting a circular economy. BIU adopts circular economy concepts to rethink how resources are considered, from a linear ‘take-make-waste’ approach to a more efficient and circular approach towards waste and materials.
- Bridging the performance gap. Measuring and understanding the performance of buildings helps achieve designed levels of performance. BIU users can start planning improvements and stimulating positive change based on actual performance data and transform modelled outputs into actual outputs.
- Leading the way to net-zero carbon. The world is heading for a net-zero carbon future in response to global challenges and growing demand from consumers, governments, and investors. BIU provides a pathway towards achieving operational net-zero carbon and beyond, using an integrated energy tool to measure stepped performance that is based on robust research, development, and many years of experience as a world-leading environmental assessment methodology.
