news from the BRE Group
published: 17/7/2009
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BREEAM Alliance to drive international sustainability standards
BRE Global announced today that it has created a powerful new BREEAM Sustainability Alliance to provide the direction and decisive leadership that will improve the sustainability of buildings throughout Europe and beyond.
BRE Global has set up the body in response to demand from industry partners, developers and Green Building Councils.
Carol Atkinson, Chief Executive of BRE Global, said: "The creation of the Alliance accelerates the development of a single rating tool for Europe. We are responding to industry demand in creating this body and are very committed to bringing about a major change in the way buildings are designed and managed, to provide both environmental benefit and a positive return on investment."
BREEAM is already used extensively throughout Europe. In October last year the Dutch Green Building Council announced that they were adopting BREEAM for the Netherlands, and work is underway to adapt the methodology in Ireland, Turkey, Spain, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Iceland.
BRE Global also recently concluded a memorandum of understanding to work with the CSTB in France and is actively working in the Gulf, under a similar agreement with the Emirates Green Building Council.
Over 400 assessors are now trained under the BREEAM International scheme, and developers such as AIG/Lincoln, Redevco and the International Council of Shopping Centres are actively using BREEAM on commercial developments in the office, retail and industrial sectors.
The key goals for the Alliance are :
- to develop and promote common rating tools for the environmental assessment of buildings across Europe
- to influence the direction of Government and EU policy for sustainable buildings and engage leading stakeholders
- to share knowledge and advance the understanding of genuine sustainability through events, training, conferences and publications
- to fund sustainability research
It will be supported by a focused and dedicated secretariat which will have offices based in Brussels, London and other European cities.
Anyone interested in joining the Alliance should contact Martin Townsend, Director of BREEAM, BRE Global at townsendm@bre.co.uk.
ENDS
Press enquiries : SIMON GUY, +44(0)1923 664305, guys@bre.co.uk; HELEN BALL, +44 (0)1923 664303, ballh@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. http://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 http://www.breglobal.com/
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