Developed 25 years ago by the Building Research Establishment (BRE), BREEAM has now become an internationally respected building sustainability assessment tool.
Today, as it celebrates its 25th birthday with over 425,000 buildings assessed to date, BREEAM continues to help raise standards for sustainability in the UK and internationally with its robust assessment system.
But what are the key reasons for considering BREEAM implementation for your project?
As an industry-recognised system for evaluating the specification, design, construction and use of buildings, BREAAM offers a wide range of benefits for Architects & Specifiers, Building Owners and Contractors. Let’s take a closer look at the benefits for each of those user types.
What are the BREEAM benefits for Architects & Specifiers?
The broad range of environmental criteria covered by BREEAM allows Architects and Specifiers to easily demonstrate a variety of skills when delivering environmentally friendly and energy efficient buildings. Thanks to its credit achievement process, BREEAM encourages the development of innovative environmental aspects of a project early in the project lifecycle.
BREEAM certification also demonstrates that environmental impact is high on the agenda for a project; BREEAM certified buildings have lower running costs, lower consumption and waste levels for water and energy, and often incorporate passive design principles, renewable energy and the responsible sourcing of lower embodied energy building products.
What are the BREEAM benefits for Building Owners?
A BREEAM certificate is a terrific way to demonstrate that your building has maximised its sustainability potential. In addition, BREEAM-rated projects provide a level of credibility and confidence in the ratings produced.
These benefits, plus the growing awareness of BREEAM across all industry sectors, provide positive market differentiators and higher desirability; crucial for the commercial sector, where BREEAM rated buildings typically rent or sell faster
What are the BREEAM benefits for Contractors?
BREEAM provides contractors with the ability to demonstrate the use of sustainable construction best practices. BREEAM also allows contractors to show that they are able to reduce ecological damage, and are focused on increasing ecological value wherever possible.
Thanks to improved monitoring and accountability, successful BREEAM projects mitigate pollution incidents, minimise impact on neighbours and increase biodiversity; a big plus for contractors in today’s crowded marketplace.
Want to know more about how BREEAM could benefit your projects?
If you would like to know how BREEAM can supercharge your current or planned projects in 2016, the BREEAM team at Syntegra would be delighted to help.
