THE INTERNATIONAL CODE FOR A SUSTAINABLE BUILT ENVIRONMENT

______________________________________________________________ AN INTERNATIONAL CODE For more than twenty years BRE Global has operated and maintained BREEAM as a tool for evaluating, measuring and sharing knowledge on the built environment. In this time BREEAM has evolved and adapted, not only to changes in our knowledge of constructing, planning and operating buildings, but also to the changing environment and economic and social needs. In the past five years, BREEAM has been successfully delivering a valuable service to international clients. Professional working relationships both abroad and in the UK have produced constructive criticism of BREEAM and its technical content and processes to which we have responded. Going forward, we are concerned to ensure that the direction of BREEAM and its future evolution is guided by our international partners, building on the principles of science and independence that underpin the BREEAM approach. The most significant step we have taken this year is to position BREEAM within an overall intellectual framework for the environmental assessment of the built environment. This framework has to be broad enough to allow plug and play tools and processes to become affiliated with BREEAM across all life cycle stages of buildings and infrastructure. In the last six months we have created such a framework, a framework that can be applied to any local processes and products (such as software tools), which have been developed to support the assessment of buildings. The framework sits under a new International Code for a Sustainable Built Environment (refer to the document pack provided). We anticipate that these changes will make BREEAM more transparent, more adaptable and more attractive to national interests across Europe, and will drive forward interest and commitment to sustainable buildings. GOVERNANCE Central to ensuring that we drive sustainability forward is not just the creation of a standard, but the sharing of knowledge and best practice experience across the BREEAM family. Currently, governance of the new Code sits under BRE Global and the BRE Trust. We are now in the process of changing this structure to strengthen the involvement of international experts and the international BREEAM community.

Page 1

THE INTERNATIONAL CODE FOR A SUSTAINABLE BUILT ENVIRONMENT

______________________________________________________________

Figure 1

Under the criteria imposed on BRE Global as a certification body by the UK accreditation service (UKAS), it is and will continue to be BRE Globals responsibility to maintain an open and accountable governance structure. However, as an international Code it is clearly essential that all stakeholders (including international experts and national BREEAM Scheme Operators) have the right to contribute to the future direction of the Code and the BREEAM Standards. BRE Global is currently seeking nominations for experts to join its Standing Panel for Peer Review and to participate in regular BREEAM Conferences on research and practice. A special forum is being organised to represent the BREEAM Scheme Operators, who are responsible for maintaining their own local governance arrangements for BREEAM in their own countries. We are in the process of discussing with our Scheme Operators how this forum should be organised. We would encourage any new Scheme Operators to become involved in this process as soon as possible, alongside our other key stakeholders. THE ADAPTATION OF BREEAM We have greatly simplified and accelerated the process for developing a Scheme in any country that is compliant with the BREEAM Standards. In essence, we see ourselves as working to support the local experts in developing their own Scheme, appropriate to local culture and practice for whichever sector of the built environment is the highest priority. Where countries do not have extensive local expertise, then we will continue to offer a range of collaborative services to support the development of the Scheme. However, where countries already have local expertise, then we see the process as simply one of review and approval, which can

Page 2

THE INTERNATIONAL CODE FOR A SUSTAINABLE BUILT ENVIRONMENT

______________________________________________________________ be undertaken as fast as the host organisation can arrange. The key to this new approach has been the separation within BREEAM of the Core Standards from the Scheme documents (the Core Standards are provided during the negotiation stage). This allows great flexibility for a potential Scheme Operator to demonstrate that their own approach can meet the core standards, without slavishly following scheme documents developed for other countries. We illustrate the process of becoming a licensed Scheme Operator as a series of stages:

Figure 2

The initial stages involve formation of the national Advisory Group, review of the technical requirements and business model. We will advise you how this may be done most effectively within the timescales you have set for yourselves. We will then discuss and agree with you the most appropriate development route for your Scheme Documents, appropriate to the local context. Development of a set of Scheme Documents compliant with the BREEAM Standards can be done either independently, jointly with us or we can undertake the work on your behalf. We anticipate that in most cases, the Scheme Operator and their Advisory Group would undertake the bulk of the work, using existing BRE Global documents as a base reference. Whatever route is followed, it is necessary that BRE Global approves the Scheme Documents through a formal scheme approval audit against the BREEAM Standards. This process involves review, identification of non-conformities, feedback to the Scheme Operator, resolution of non-conformities by the Scheme Operator and final approval by BRE Global. Approval is essential for the wider BREEAM family of Scheme Operators to maintain confidence in the reputation and technical integrity of the system. Once approved, BRE Global would enter into a

Page 3

THE INTERNATIONAL CODE FOR A SUSTAINABLE BUILT ENVIRONMENT

______________________________________________________________ Framework Agreement with you, licensing you exclusively as the Scheme Operator to operate the Scheme or Schemes and to use the approved Certification Mark (assuming that third party accreditation is confirmed). This streamlining of the process for the adaptation of schemes is a major step forward from the situation we have been operating prior to this year and draws on the experience of this early work. We have already seen considerable interest in this approach from the wider community and we hope that this will also be attractive to other countries. New Scheme Operators, alongside our other partners, will have the opportunity to join and integrate their own In-Use standards into the work we are undertaking with the International Sustainability Alliance (ISA). ISA was launched at Expo Real in Munich and is now attracting new members from across the property industry. The ISA system generates KPIs for its members against an agreed KPI set and provides access to the BREEAM In-Use methodology, either at an international level or by country using the new online system. ISA therefore provides BREEAM Scheme Operators, who have developed their own national BREEAM In-Use assessment method, with direct access to ISA members seeking assessment and certification.

ALIGNMENT WITH EUROPEAN LEGISLATION As you may be aware BREEAM already incorporates the majority of environmental performance measures proposed for evaluation in TC350 standards, together with a significant number of the social performance measures. Obvious examples are in Materials, using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) based data through the application of the Green Guide; Energy consumption in use through the application of energy calculators, such as SBEM and SAP, the UKs EPBD compliant National Calculation Methodology, and water consumption through the water calculator tools that we have developed. However the organisation, the presentation and in some instances the quantification of information is different when compared to the presentation of information by other rating tools, which follow more closely the structure of TC350. The advantage of BREEAM over such rating tools is that the Life Cycle approach is also supported by the score card of best practice, which is important to show tangible and accessible ways by which the sustainability of the building can be improved. In addition to the alignment of BREEAM with TC350 and with the Sustainable Building Alliance (SBA) on common metrics, we see our work with the ISA subcommittee on the harmonisation of measures as a major advantage for BREEAM. Joining the BREEAM family brings the opportunity to participate in a wider international movement that is seeking not only to provide state-of-the-art environmental assessment methodologies but to develop the Core Standards and underpinning science for future, next generation approaches.

Page 4

THE INTERNATIONAL CODE FOR A SUSTAINABLE BUILT ENVIRONMENT

______________________________________________________________

Appendix A

BRE Global and BREEAM

An Introduction to the Code and Framework for Scheme Operation

The International Code for a Sustainable Built Environment is a strategic framework for sustainability assessment. At the highest level the Code itself forms a vision statement for a sustainable built environment. The Code is then interpreted through a Core Technical Standard and a Core Process Standard, both supported by Core Science.
S Op che m e Ma rati e nu on als s

Code for a Sustainable Built Environment

nd ar d

re Co

sS ta

Pr oc es

Core Technical Standards

BREEAM Core Standards

ie Sc e nc Ba

Co re

se

FRAMEWORK AGREEMENT

Scheme Operator Scheme Documents

Communities Organisational Non-Domestic
Bespoke Domestic International Offices Retail Industrial Healthcare Education Prisons Courts

BREEAM Affiliated Schemes

l ca Lo nce ie Sc ase B

This document is intended to introduce the structure of the Code and how Scheme Operators and other stakeholders can draw on the internationally recognised BREEAM schemes and standards. The International Code for a Sustainable Built Environment is a set of strategic principles and requirements which define an integrated approach to the design, management, evaluation and certification of the environmental, social and economic impacts of the built environment. The BREEAM Core Standards interpret the Code as two separate but linked documents, one focusing on Technical and the other on Process requirements. These documents list

the requirements that a Scheme Operator must comply with in order to be affiliated with the BREEAM Standards. The Schemes are owned and developed by a Scheme Operator; for example BRE Global is the Scheme Operator for UK (BREEAM UK), the Dutch Green Building Council is the Scheme Operator for the Netherlands (BREEAM NL) etc. The Schemes can take any format as long as they comply with the requirements established in the BREEAM Standards. The new structure for BREEAM International sets out a model under

Page 5

Domestic

Building

Asset

THE INTERNATIONAL CODE FOR A SUSTAINABLE BUILT ENVIRONMENT

______________________________________________________________

which BRE Global, as owner of the Code and the Core Standards, licenses other Scheme Operators under the BREEAM Standards. By signing a Framework Agreement with BRE Global, Environmental Assessment Schemes, including schemes already in use, can become affiliated with the BREEAM Standards and achieve international recognition, brand association and comparability with other Schemes. International Property Portfolio owners have been requesting a system that works on this level for many years. By entering a Framework Agreement with BRE Global an organisation seeking to become a BREEAM Scheme Operator can gain access to over twenty years worth of experience in operating an Environmental Assessment Method. BRE Global aims to share its knowledge and experience with Scheme Operators and respects their expertise for their Local Context. Scheme Operators within the BREEAM family are required to maintain their own local governance for their schemes and to contribute to the future development of the BREEAM Standards as

part of the international governance of the Code. Licensed Scheme Operators may issue the new BREEAM Certification Mark on their own certificates, identifying that their assessment method is affiliated to BREEAM. As an internationally respected brand name, BRE Global will manage overall compliance with the BREEAM Standards by all Scheme Operators and ensure comparability between BREEAM Affiliated Schemes. BRE Global welcomes discussions with any organisation wishing to develop their own Scheme and to achieve affiliation with the BREEAM Standards.

For more information see our website www.bre.co.uk/sustainability Martin Townsend Director of BREEAM Telephone: +44 (0)1923 664676 E-mail: townsendm@bre.co.uk

Page 6