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NEW – BREEAM Simple Buildings Manual and Criteria Released
Following our article last month introducing BREEAM Simple Buildings, the new guidance was released by BRE on 13th March 2013. After reviewing the criteria within this new BREEAM scheme we think this is a positive change for our clients. Many small commercial units within larger schemes could now be assessed using this cheaper and simpler [...]
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Tagged Assessments, BREEAM, Environmental standards, Guides, Planning, Sustainability
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BREEAM Simple Buildings
The cost of a BREEAM assessment varies depending on the nature of the building assessed. A new standard ‘BREEAM Simple Buildings’ may reduce the cost of assessment for certain developments. BREEAM Certification Fees BREEAM Scheme Total Fees Registration Fees Design stage Post Construction Stage BREEAM Bespoke £3,540 £2,250 £900 £390 BREEAM New Construction – Other [...]
Making sure sites pass BREEAM Post Construction assessments
After a successful BREEAM Design Stage assessment many sites lose vital credits at the Post Construction stage due to the transfer of information from the design team to the site teams. These credits tend to be the ones that are not included within design specifications and drawings, they are additional commitments the client and design [...]
Shell and Core BREEAM for small commercial spaces
Many of our large residential schemes have relatively small commercial spaces which have to reach BREEAM standards for planning. We show below our recommended approach which should avoid any uncertainty: BREEAM New Construction Shell & Core Assessments are a less complex assessment specifically designed for later tenant fit out of commercial spaces. We recommend the [...]
BREEAM Excellent – is it a step too far for smaller buildings?
With the release of BREEAM New Construction in July 2011 some common problems are emerging within the industry. Planning authorities are routinely asking for BREEAM Excellent but is this now too much for small developments to manage, before the release of BREEAM small buildings later this year. BREEAM Excellent is no easy task, especially now with [...]
CEEQUAL – Infrastructure Environmental Assessment
We are all operating in an era in which “certifying and assessing” buildings has become mainstream. To date only major infrastructure projects have considered their environmental impacts. Now is the time to be looking at the infrastructure supporting large residential and mixed use developments: particularly on ‘brownfield’ sites. The appropriate assessment method is CEEQUAL which [...]
Why do green roofs die?
There are several different types of green roofs. Intensive roofs are thicker and heavier more like roof gardens and require regular maintenance. Extensive roofs are lighter and typically sedum based, requiring less maintenance, often only once a year depending on the location of the roof. Typical requirements of an extensive roof is yearly fertilizing and [...]
Biodiversity benefits of brown roofs
Industrial brownfield sites can include valuable ecosystems, supporting rarely found species of plants, animals and invertebrates. When the site is re-developed this biodiversity can be preserved by the use of a ‘brown roof’. In order to encourage biodiversity the Rio Earth Summit in 1992 the ‘Convention on Biological Diversity’ (CBD) was adopted and set the [...]
Benefits of a green roof
Sustainability benefits of green roofs Also known as ‘living roofs’, green roofs can make a significant contribution to sustainability at the planning application stage, as well as having the potential for achieving Code and BREEAM credits in the Energy, Materials, Surface Water Runoff, Health/Wellbeing and Ecology Sections. There are two types of green roof: ‘intensive roofs’, [...]
