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BREEAM Certification Model
In this post I will comment on the most important characteristics of the British certification system BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method For Buildings), which is currently configured as one of the most important standards along with the LEED system.
The Breeam certification constitutes a procedure for the environmental performance assessment and sustainable building certification more widespread nationally and internationally.
The evaluation of buildings with this system is carried out through a criterion of credits that are divided into nine different groups, so that those measures that improve the well-being of the occupants and those that contribute to the improvement are identified and rewarded. environmental Protection. This system is also voluntary and was created in 1990 in the United Kingdom.
Objectives of BREEAM:
This system aims to implement the following objectives to improve the sustainability of buildings that are intended to be built:
- Reduce the environmental impact during the life of the buildings.
- Establish standards above the requirements of current applicable legislation.
- Stimulate demand for sustainable buildings.
- Carry out a public comparison between buildings.
- Implant a eco label recognized.
- Stimulate technological innovation in the construction sector.
As a noteworthy point of this system, mention that improves the flexibility and useful life of buildings, and increases their functionality and the value of the property built under these parameters, this revaluation can be about 10% above the value of other similar homes, but of standard construction. It uses a simple and transparent valuation procedure, which is based on real testing and verification.
How does the BREEAM system work?
First we must recognize the 10 measures evaluated by BREEAM® that contribute to reducing the famous CO2 emissions caused by buildings and construction.
This system is based on a set of procedures aimed at assessing the sustainability levels of a building, during the project phases, as well as the execution and maintenance phases both in urban developments and in new construction buildings, although there are also some systems to evaluate buildings already built in use. The sustainability parameters evaluated are those established in the following groups:
- Management: commissioning, construction management policies, operating guides and environmental management system.
- Health and Wellbeing: occupant comfort in areas such as heating, lighting, air quality or noise.
- Energy: minimization of energy consumption, energy efficiency of equipment and implementation of renewable energies.
- Transport: location of the plot, access to public transport, proximity to services, pedestrian accesses and infrastructures for alternative modes of transport.
- Efficiency in water consumption
- Materials: materials with a low energy content, treatment of material resources in a responsible way and use of materials with low environmental impact.
- Waste: reduction of waste generated in the work and operation of the building.
- Land use and ecology: location and type of land on which the building sits, as well as the protection and valuation of natural resources and biodiversity.
- Pollution: minimization of the environmental footprint
Some of the highlights of this certification system are detailed in the following video:
BREEAM certification process:
The process is started by building registration through a recognized assessor or accredited independent professional to proceed with the evaluation procedures. Once registered, the evaluation process of all the required requirements adding the score awarded in each of the categories indicated above to obtain the final rating, and others are considered a weighting through an environmental factor.
Finally, a score for innovation is added to obtain the final ranking. Bliss classification is divided into Pass, Good, Very Good, Excellent and Exceptional, and is accompanied by a star rating from one to five.
Conclusions:
We have talked in some articles about certain cases of improvement of sustainable buildings and in many cases the need to improve or achieve high energy efficiency goes through considering the design parameters and environmental quality that are evaluated within these certification standards, both LEED and BREEAM. .
In principle, it seems logical to think that the current building model that is limited to complying with the regulations currently in force and intends to implement standard qualities without any additional objective in aspects of sustainability considered should evolve towards this design concept due to the advantages that it entails not only from an environmental point of view but also because they do not represent an excessive cost overrun, reduce energy consumption and improve the quality of life of its users.
In addition, it is convenient to assess that the energy certificate currently in force that allows estimating the consumption of primary and final energy as well as the CO2 emissions of a building.
But in a society like ours, in addition, it is necessary to consider other parameters such as acoustic insulation, the use and proper management of water, the quality of life of users, the energy consumption involved in the use of electrical appliances, the use of certain materials that are aggressive to the environment or that require a lot of energy in their manufacture and / or transport, proper management of the waste generated during the building construction process, etc …
They should be considered in a global context since they are also generating energy consumption and CO2 emissions, thus advocating for such quality standards especially in promotions of residential, tertiary and industrial use buildings.
More information on the official BREEAM page where we can download a manual for technicians and learn more from HERE. Wanted from Projects carried out with BREEAM certification in Spain… HERE.
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Article prepared by Jose Luis Morote Salmeron (Technical Architect - Energy Manager) Access to its website HERE, in collaboration withOVACEN.
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