news from the BRE Group
published: 2/6/2009
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BREEAM Communities Launched
The Athletes' Village and the BBC's MediaCityUK, Manchester are key pilots for the new scheme, incorporating world leading sustainability into their designs
The new BREEAM scheme for communities is being launched today to help planners and developers improve, manage and independently certify the sustainability of development proposals through the various stages of the planning process .The initial scheme has been piloted on projects throughout the 9 English regions. Foremost amongst these is the Athletes' Village for London 2012 and MediaCityUK, the new headquarters and mixed-use development for the BBC in Manchester. Both projects are committed to maximising the sustainability potential of their specific development site and ensuring that the final product incorporates world leading sustainability.
Carol Atkinson Chief Executive of BRE Global said: "This new scheme is an important addition to the BREEAM family - it ensures we can provide certification for all the various stages of the life-cycle of buildings. BREEAM Communities is an open source framework, which builds on the objectives of the existing Regional Sustainability Checklists already used by many developers. It is a powerful tool to assess the sustainability of communities and provide third party certification. It complements existing BREEAM schemes and the Code for Sustainable Homes, to provide a truly holistic approach to the sustainability of buildings and communities."
Andrew Kinsey of Bovis Lend Lease has played a key role in piloting the scheme on the Athletes' Village. He said: "We welcomed the chance to participate in the BREEAM Communities pilot programme and feel there have been several benefits as a result. Firstly it provided us with a chance to test our plans and thinking against the credit criteria and adopting the robust BREEAM process challenged our design teams to provide the evidence necessary to prove compliance. Secondly it allowed us to provide real life feedback from a complex project, which I am sure will be helpful in developing the scheme for use on our future developments".
Frank Mills of SKM has played a key role in piloting the scheme for MediaCityUK. He said: "Our client Peel Media had seen the benefit of BREEAM in the design and construction of each building on the new MediaCityUK - Peel have committed to BREEAM targets on every building across the development - and were keen to extend this approach across the site to achieve a truly environmentally friendly regeneration of a former dockland site alongside the Manchester Ship Canal in Salford. The public squares, piazzas and waterfront will achieve community benefits through place making. Peel have encouraged local businesses to get involved and set up companies to support the construction and ongoing operation of the site. MediaCityUK is an exemplar of BREEAM Communities as it has embodied BREEAM principles from the outset across this city's buildings - offices, studios, car parks, retail, residential, hotels, education, health - to achieve a truly leading-edge modern low carbon , environmentally friendly city".
Key features of the two pilot projects are :
Athletes' Village, Stratford, East London
The Athletes' Village development is being designed and built for the London 2012 Olympic Games as part of a two-phase development process. The first phase will include approximately 2,800 dwellings and associated support infrastructure. The second phase will convert the Village to provide an Olympic legacy with commercial, retail, residential and community space. It will provide a ‘complete' environment - an opportunity to differentiate from the typical local market offering of small stand alone projects. Lend Lease is the development and project manager for the Village and construction management services are being provided by Bovis Lend Lease.
Key Features:
- Size: Approximately 2.5 square miles
- Over 10 hectares of open space including public squares and five parks
New primary healthcare centre and academy school - New transport facilities - bus routes, cycle lanes and pedestrian routes
- Adjacent to Westfield retail centre
- Buildings to achieve Code for Sustainable Homes (CSH) level 4 and BREEAM Very Good. BREEAM Communities will lay the foundation for the assessment and certification of the completed construction against BREEAM or the Code for Sustainable Homes
- Olympic legacy facilities
MediaCityUK, Manchester
.jpg "MediaCity UK")
MediaCityUK is a long-term development situated on a huge waterfront site at Salford Quays, just a few minutes from central Manchester. The first phase, spread over 36 acres, will be completed in 2011, when the BBC and the University of Salford will be anchor tenants. MediaCityUK is being developed and managed by Peel Media, a division of the Peel Group, one of the leading property and transport companies in the UK, with an asset value approaching £7 billion. In total, Peel Media's investment in phase one of MediaCityUK will amount to £500 million. For more information go to http://www.mediacityuk.co.uk
Key features:
- Phase one occupies 36 acres of a potential 200 acres of former dockland
- Potential for employment for 15,500 people and up to 1,500 trainee posts over the next ten years (Amion Consulting)
- Provides 7 million square feet of new and refurbished floor space for business, retail and residential use
- Potential to accommodate over 1000 businesses over the next decade
- All buildings on site will be BREEAM certified
- Opportunities for local businesses
- Local training and education opportunities
- Local sourcing of environmentally friendly products
- Extensive community consultation through Salford City Council and the North West Regional Development Agency (NWDA)
Further information on BREEAM Communities can be found at www.breeam.org/communities.
ENDS
Press enquiries : SIMON GUY, +44(0)1923 664305, guys@bre.co.uk
Notes for Editors
1 BREEAM (BRE Environmental Assessment Method) is the leading and most widely used environmental assessment method for buildings around the world, with over 110,000 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 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
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