news from BRE
published: 17/12/2008
A record year for carbon-cutting BREEAM
A record number of buildings have been assessed under BREEAM this year, which is now estimated to have reduced the CO2 emissions of UK building stock by 4.5 million tonnes, equivalent to the emissions of 40,000 homes.
Over 2,000 buildings have been assessed in 2008, a 40% increase on 2007 and the highest number in any one year since BREEAM's inception.
Martin Townsend, Director of BREEAM, commented: "Although market conditions are challenging the appetite for BREEAM remains high because it helps reduce costs as well as cutting carbon and bringing down energy and water use. Everyone wants better buildings that are both sustainable and economical."
Next year will see the launch of BREEAM In Use, which will help reduce the running costs and environmental impact of existing buildings. BREEAM In Use is a powerful business management process that helps organisations improve the performance of built assets and increases organisational effectiveness.
Key facts for BREEAM this year are:
- The saving of 4.5 million tonnes* of CO2 has been achieved since the launch of the first scheme for offices in 1990. This equates to the annual emissions of 750,000 average UK homes over basic Building Regulation levels or the total emissions of over 40,000 UK homes over the same period.
- The BREEAM method now has 11 published versions tailored to specific building types ranging from courts to offices to retail. Specialist and mixed use buildings not covered by the main schemes are assessed using a bespoke approach.
- BREEAM underwent its most radical update for 10 years with the introduction of mandatory post-construction reviews, credits to recognise exemplary and innovative design and a new Outstanding rating to reward leading edge buildings.
- BREEAM was launched into the Gulf in October and pan-European versions of BREEAM have been piloted this year for retail and other sectors.
- Assessments are carried out by a growing legion of licensed assessors. There are now over 3,000 licensed assessors in the UK and the first group of assessors were trained this year for Europe and the Middle East.
- A wide range of free, public resources are now available for BREEAM. Assessor manuals and pre-assessment checklists can now be downloaded free of charge from www.breeam.org.
For further information on BREEAM and to sign up for the regular BREEAM e-newsletter go to www.breeam.org
* based on BREEAM Offices 2005 data using average credit scores and percentage improvements over Building Regulations extrapolated over the life of scheme. This also assumes an average of 50 assessments per year between 1990 and 2000, increasing to an average of 100 assessments per year from 2001 to 2008.
Press enquiries : SIMON GUY, +44(0)1923 664305, guys@bre.co.uk
Notes for Editors
1 BREEAM (BRE Environmental Assessment Method) is the world's leading and most widely used environmental assessment method for buildings, with over 100,000 buildings certified and over half a million registered. 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. Credits are awarded in eight categories according to performance. These credits are then added together to produce a single overall score on a scale of Pass, Good, Very Good, Excellent and Outstanding which is also reflected in a star rating from 1 to 5 stars. The operation of BREEAM is overseen by an independent Sustainability Board, representing a wide cross-section of construction industry stakeholders. www.breeam.org.
2 BREEAM is now more transparent and public than ever before with case studies, assessor manuals and pre-assessment checklists available free of charge at www.breeam.org.
3 BRE Global Limited (incorporating LPCB & BREEAM) is an independent third party approvals body offering certification of fire, security and sustainability products and services to an international market. BRE Global mission is to ‘Protect People, Property and the Planet' and is a trading subsidiary of the BRE Trust, the registered research and education charity which owns the BRE Group. For further information please contact: BRE Global, Garston, Watford, WD25 9XX, Tel: 01923 664100, Fax: 01923 664910, Email: enquiries@breglobal.com or visit www.breglobal.com