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How to achieve a high BREEAM rating for your office
By James Bleakman
For over a decade the Building Research Establishment’s (BRE) Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) has been the industry standard for measuring how sustainable a building is.
How sustainable is your office?
A high BREEAM rating brings obvious benefits, boosting a business’ credibility and satisfying its stakeholders. But it has other, less tangible benefits too. Happy, healthy staff are more productive and creative, and sustainable credentials give stakeholders more confidence and pride in a business brand.
BREEAM Offices is the world’s most widely used means of reviewing and improving the environmental performance of office buildings. Assessments can be carried out on both new and existing office buildings – empty or occupied.
Within BREEAM there are four ratings a business can achieve – pass, good, very good and excellent.
1. What are the BREEAM guidelines?
The BREEAM assessment process isn’t just about the building itself, it covers a whole array of elements which encompass the office environment. It looks at things like how energy efficient a business is, what impact an office has on the health and wellbeing of its people, water, material and waste – it even looks at management policies to see how environmentally sound they are.
2. How to start
You can get a BREEAM rating without a complete redesign and refurbishment, but it’s usually more expensive and complicated than starting from scratch. It is best to build your design around the BREEAM guidelines from the onset, i.e. when you are planning your refurbishment or fit out. This is certainly more cost effective – especially when long-term energy savings are factored in.
At the concept design stage (or as early as possible in the design process) an assessor should be involved to ensure the performance of the building is maximised for least capital cost. An assessor will also be able to help you understand what needs to be implemented into your design to achieve the desired rating. At this stage you need to think about what kind of rating you want to achieve.
3. What is the main criteria?
Good building management is crucial to the building’s performance as it has an impact throughout the building’s life. BREEAM looks at how the building is managed so it is important to ensure someone is responsible for maintaining optimum performance.
BREEAM awards credits where the environment is designed to maximise occupant control; for example in heating, lighting, air quality and noise. On average we spend 90 per cent of our time in buildings, therefore it is imperative that the internal environment of the buildings we live, work and play in offers us the most appropriate surroundings, as ultimately our environment is major contributor to our quality of life.
The CO2 emitted from the operation of buildings in the UK accounts for over 50 per cent of the total UK CO2 emissions. BREEAM looks at how companies can reduce CO2 emissions from building operations and looks at aspects such as low energy lights, metering, ‘A’ rated white goods and energy management.
Businesses can also minimise CO2 emissions from transport to and from a building. This includes the location of the development, parking and cyclist facilities and access to public transport and local amenities.
Designers and clients can influence new building occupiers to use water more sparingly. BREEAM credits are awarded where companies take measures such as water efficient appliances (e.g. low flush toilets), water metering, leak detection systems and use of water butts. BREEAM also rewards the use of materials with a low embodied energy i.e. ‘A’ rated, responsibly resourced materials and the use of recycled materials.
Companies gain credits if they think about the location they are building on, minimise the effects of pollution and make best use of their footprint. There are also a number of environmental effects of pollution ranging from acid rain, depletion of the ozone to waste water flooding to take into consideration.
What are the main factors towards getting a BREEAM rating?
- Good building management
- How the building contributes to the health and well-being of staff
- A reduction in CO2 emissions from building operations and transport to and from a building
- Location and access for staff
- Water use and efficiency
- Use of responsibly resourced materials, those with a low embodied energy and recycled materials
- Best use of the building’s location and footprint
- Minimising pollution
The extent to which the above are considered as part of the building’s design has an impact on how high the BREEAM rating awarded is.
4. How is a building BREEAM assessed?
BREEAM assessments are carried out by BRE’s licensed assessor network. This can be at the design stage for new build or refurbishment projects, post construction or an assessment for existing buildings can be carried out whilst they are operational.
Credits are awarded in each area according to performance. A set of environmental weightings then enables the credits to be added together to produce a single overall score. The building is rated on a scale of Pass, Good, Very Good and Excellent and a certificate is awarded to the development.
As a guide the rating bands are; a score of 70 for Excellent, 55 for Very Good, 40 for Good and 25 for Pass.
But each element of the assessment must also be backed up with physical evidence. This may be in the form of a letter from a contractor, a train timetable, or specification information about a material from suppliers. This can often be the most difficult and lengthy part of the process.
5. What does it cost?
Although more money may be spent on the design process, many environmentally constructed buildings save money by reducing mechanical plant and the use of expensive materials. A sustainable office interior uses less energy - so you could save at least 25 per cent on your energy bills, year after year.
But it’s not just the initial financial cost, there is a time cost involved too. To achieve a successful BREEAM rating, the client must be aware that they need to be fully committed to achieving BREEAM by attributing time and effort to locating the required information and evidence. In essence, the more input given by the client leads to a more effective result.
6. Why bother?
BREEAM building assessments are increasingly required by regulatory and government organisations including English Partnerships and the Office of Government Commerce (OGC).
Current building methods can result in high energy usage, large quantities of waste, poor occupancy comfort and low user satisfaction. BREEAM can address the environmental impact of these issues and provide a range of benefits to all involved with buildings. BREEAM buildings bring environmental, economic and social benefits; including an improved internal environment, increased productivity, staff retention and attraction, increased profitability for business and reduced utility bills, improved corporate image. Finally desirable buildings give a high rate of return and a low void rate.
With heightened awareness of green issues in today’s marketplace, this rating will soon become the norm for all commercial and domestic buildings.