Green building certification may still be optional in some UK and EU jurisdictions. However, from a bird’s eye view of shifting economic, social, and environmental factors, it is becoming increasingly clear that building contractors, property managers, and owners should adopt a proven and widely acknowledged green building certification like the one provided by the BREEAM standard.
The built environment makes up a quarter (25%) of the UK’s total greenhouse gas emissions.
Green building certifications like BREEAM’s can provide a detailed framework for sustainability practices, helping you improve (and prove) your sustainability efforts and investments.
What is the BREEAM Certification?
The BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method) certification is an approach to evaluating buildings and structures for sustainability performance and environmental impact throughout their lifecycle – from design through sustainability engineering to use and refurbishment.
Developed by BRE Global and introduced in the UK in 1990, BREEAM is a voluntary framework based on a categorized and gradual scoring evaluation and accreditation technique. Since its inception, BREEAM certification has been adopted as a leading standard for green buildings across more than 260,000 buildings in over 50 countries.
Like other green building certification frameworks, BREEAM certification is critical in aligning organizational ESG policies and initiatives with global sustainability goals. In addition to assessing a building’s sustainability performance, BREEAM helps communicate the advantages and benefits of sustainability to stakeholders, improve resource efficiency, and enhance occupant health and wellbeing.
To get your BREEAM assessment, you must contact a licensed BREEAM assessor and go through multiple stages, including registration on the BREEAM website, choosing a registered assessor, and completing numerous online questionnaires. This process typically takes 3-6 months to complete.
The validity period of the BREEAM certification depends on the building lifecycle stage and the level of certification compliance you achieve. In any case, BREEAM certification is temporary and must be renewed periodically depending on the BREEAM certification plan that is relevant to your building.
What are the BREEAM certification assessment criteria?
During a BREEAM assessment, buildings are evaluated and scored according to their sustainability performance in several categories. Some of these categories directly address several of the Sustainable Development Goals established by the United Nations. They include:
- Energy
- Land use
- Water
- Pollution
- Materials
- Waste
- Transport
- Health and wellbeing
- Management
- Innovation
How the BREEAM certification scoring system works
Unlike other standards and certification schemes that tend to be binary (yes or no), the BREEAM rating system ranks buildings according to their BREEAM score into six categories that indicate each building or project’s level of sustainability.
The ranking categories are (from the lowest to the highest):
- Unclassified
- Pass
- Good
- Very Good
- Excellent
- Outstanding
The BREEAM assessment process is based on a credit scoring system covering the above assessment criteria. The credits from each category are then weighted (with the weighting factor for the section) and combined into a single score that determines your BREEAM certification level.
Not all assessment criteria are equally weighted; the weight varies significantly depending on the specific assessment scheme and project type. However, criteria such as project management, energy, water, and materials typically carry more weight than others. When you take on a BREEAM certification process, you should seek “easy wins” – credits you can score without extensive and expensive investments.
The points will be awarded to you by an independent, licensed BREEAM assessor who will then send their report to the BRE for review and accreditation.
Why choose BREEAM Certification?
BREEAM certification offers several benefits to the environment and the community your building serves and to the various stakeholders in any structure throughout its lifetime: contractors, developers, owners, and occupants.
Among these benefits are:
- Higher asset values – according to BREEAM estimates, a certified building may be valued at around 8-12% more when compared to non-certified structures.
- Enhanced marketability & differentiation – Future-proofing your buildings to comply with BREEAM requirements and communicating your commitment to your ESG strategy is beneficial to your brand and the attractiveness of your assets.
- Reduced operational costs – Improved management of energy and water resources leads to reduced consumption and waste, thus improving resource efficiency and lowering expenses.
- Improved occupant health and wellbeing – BREEAM-certified structures adhere to standards for construction materials, leveraging natural lighting for energy efficiency, accessibility, and other factors that impact the building occupants’ and visitors’ health and wellbeing.
- Compliance with regulations – Local authorities in the UK and EU increasingly demand that buildings within their jurisdiction complete at least some level of BREEAM certification. Some rules and policies to consider are the UK Building Regulations, the UK Green Building Council (UKGBC) Guidance, and the EU Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD).
7 Steps to Become BREEAM certified
1. Choose the applicable BREEAM plan
BREEAM offers plans for different built environment types based on the project lifecycle stages. The schemes offered today include:
- BREEAM Communities – for complex and large-scale projects at the planning stage.
- BREEAM New Construction – for projects at the design and construction stage.
- BREEAM In-Use – for structures currently in use.
- BREEAM Refurbishment and Fit-Out – for buildings undergoing improvements or refurbishing.
- BREEAM Infrastructure – for infrastructure and civil engineering projects.
2. Select an assessor
To guide you on your BREEAM certification journey and get your rating submitted, you should appoint a qualified BREEAM assessor that was trained and approved by the Building Research Establishment (BRE). You can find one in the index on the BREEAM GreenBookLive website.
3. Plan and conduct a pre-assessment
With the help of your assessor of choice, you can begin to prepare your project for BREEAM certification by first understanding the criteria and scoring system and setting realistic goals for your BREEAM certification level and requirements.
The pre-assessment serves as a tool that allows you to estimate your potential BREEAM rating and improve upon that score before your actual certification assessment. Conducting a pre-assessment will enable you to pinpoint the areas that require improvement and take steps to increase your BREEAM benchmark percentage scores.
4. Register for an assessment
Adding your project to the BRE database is an important step that gives you access to much information and support on the BRE member-only website. At this point, you will be required to pay a registration fee. This fee can range from a few hundred to thousands of dollars, depending on the scale and type of the project.
5. Prepare and submit your BREEAM assessment
Your project team must collect the information and evidence to demonstrate your adherence to BREEAM criteria standards. Your assessor will then compile the evidence into a report to be submitted to the BRE.
BRE experts will review the assessment submitted through their website and, if necessary, verify the evidence through a site visit or by requesting additional documentation.
6. Receive your BREEAM certification and rating
Finally, your BREEAM assessor will provide you with your score and BREEAM building rating, and the BRE will issue the BREEAM certificate for the project according to the rating category.
7. Get listed on GreenBookLive
Last is the benefit of having your building listed in the BREEAM certification index on GreenBookLive. In addition, you will be able to display the certificate badge and score on your website, marketing assets, and sales materials.
The role of Water Management in achieving BREEAM certification
Water monitoring and management, leak detection and prevention, and reuse of water consumed in the built environment may contribute up to 9 points to your potential BREEAM certification score.
Note that the way these points are distributed and achieved varies depending on the BREEAM certification type and the type of building (residential, commercial, or public) you aim to get certified. Generally, here is the complete breakdown of sections within the Water category –
- Wat 01: Water consumption – up to 6 points can be awarded in this section. These points are awarded considering a baseline number for water consumption and the percentage reduction you can achieve compared to that baseline. Water-saving fixtures and water-efficient appliances may help you reduce your water consumption and achieve the total 6 points (you need a reduction of 50% below the baseline for that).
- Wat 02: Water monitoring – you can get 1 point for this section. Installing submeters and regularly monitoring your water usage (ideally in real-time) can help you get this point.
- Wat 03: Water leak detection – you can get 1 point for this section. Installing smart leak detection systems and water management solutions can help you achieve this point.
- Wat 04: Water-efficient equipment – there is 1 point available for this section. To get this point, you should choose high-tech devices that are water-efficient, update old equipment, and train your staff to use equipment more efficiently.
As we mentioned, the requirements and assessment criteria differ according to the type of plan and structure you are preparing for the BREEAM certification process. Still, water management and waste reduction can be a rather quick and “easy win” for increasing your BREEAM score with innovative, ROI-positive IoT devices linked to an AI-powered water management platform.
Smart technologies for water monitoring, like the one offered by WINT Water Intelligence, can help you get to the maximum score of points across all subcategories of the Water category and, potentially, the Innovation portion of the score by adopting a future-proof approach to reducing water consumption and waste. WINT’s AI-powered system offers real-time monitoring and detects and stops leaks at the source. This can support your efforts to reduce water consumption, improve monitoring, and prevent leaks.
Every point counts: Leveraging technology to comply with BREEAM requirements
BREEAM certification is still considered voluntary, but not for long. Most modern organizations understand that the benefits it brings go far beyond reducing the environmental footprint of your buildings. Becoming BREEAM certified can introduce cost savings and mitigate risks, such as water damage from leaks in unmonitored water systems. It can also help reduce insurance costs and add an industry-accepted seal of approval to your green building initiatives.
Regardless of the type of plan or scope of your BREEAM certification journey, innovative and future-proofed technologies are a welcome addition to your ESG strategy.
Enterprise-grade water monitoring and management solutions can help you acquire the water-related ‘credits‘ you need for a BREEAM certification at a relatively minimal investment compared to other chapters and criteria of the framework.
