Construction shapes what the world looks like and, increasingly, it’s reflecting the global sustainability priority by actively incorporating sustainable practices into developments. However, as awareness of sustainability grows and matures, local government, communities and buyers increasingly want sustainability measures to be ‘guaranteed’ through certification.
Developers can use this emphasis on certification to set themselves apart from their competition, gain recognition for their commitment to sustainability and add extra value to their projects that can command a price premium.
But what certification is the best choice for developers in 2024?
At present, BREEAM is the leading assessment for the sustainability of the built environment worldwide. To give it its full title, the Building Research Establishment’s Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM), uses a robust, science-led framework to measure the environmental impact of any building or building project, throughout its entire life cycle. Administered by the Building Research Establishment (BRE), an independent, profit-for-purpose organisation, the BREEAM includes specific guidance for new developments of different sizes, existing buildings and refurbishment projects.
BREEAM certification demonstrates that a development has incorporated a range of sustainability measures within its design and construction process. It’s comprehensive, covering energy, land use and ecology, materials, management, pollution, transport, waste, water, and health and wellbeing in its assessment. This broad remit gives it the ability to drive improvement beyond building regulations and standards, particularly in terms of the needs and wellbeing of building users. For example, it places a strong emphasis on encouraging developments to deliver high standards of indoor air quality, lighting and thermal comfort.
BREEAM is internationally recognised and represents 80% of all green building certification across Europe. To date, more than 600,000 BREEAM certificates have been awarded across 93 countries worldwide and, at last count, 2.3 million buildings have been registered for assessment.
What sets BREEAM apart from other environmental assessments are the regular consultations and reviews that keep it relevant in a rapidly evolving sustainability environment. For example, the upcoming version 7 will specifically ‘reflect the latest developments in net zero science and regulation to ensure users can ensure their sustainability goals really are being met’. It will also further improve its framework for creating metrics that can compare projects, monitor progress, and prevent misleading claims around sustainability goals, otherwise known as ‘greenwashing’.
BREEAM continues to be a rigorous, respected certification, and achieving it is a critical part of demonstrating how the construction industry is embracing sustainability.
On a regulatory level, because local authority planning departments need a standardised, comparable way to assess buildings, BREEAM certification is increasingly non-negotiable. In the UK alone, up to 70% of local authorities in cities across the country currently require it. This means that not following BREEAM standards might stop developers from building. And, where public buildings are concerned, the UK government’s construction strategy requires a recognised environmental assessment.
Taking a hard-headed view, BREEAM certification can also benefit developers financially. Reliable and quantifiable sustainability gains are important to investors and, the UK’s national innovation agency calls BREEAM certification an “internationally recognised quality mark”. In a highly scrutinised market, it offers an authoritative, widely accepted way to signal sustainability credentials.
Plus, as genuine sustainability benefits become more important to society, BREEAM certification offers advantages in terms of public relations and attractiveness to buyers and renters. A study in London, Sydney and Melbourne found that a BREEAM rating could improve sales premiums by up to 18%.
BREEAM awards are verified by an independent network of 2,600 fully licensed and highly-qualified assessors. Typically, assessors will conduct two reviews before delivering a score: one during the design stage and then a later post-construction assessment.
A developer’s goal is to achieve an ‘excellent’ (scoring over 70%) or ‘outstanding’ (scoring over 85%) rating. However, currently only 1% of all non-domestic UK developments hold the highest BREEAM rating of ‘outstanding’, which makes receiving an ‘excellent’ rating a more practical objective.
Evidence used in BREEAM assessments ranges from as-built drawings or specifications to photographic records of installation and implementation of sustainable products, but assessors provide full guidance in the early stages of engagement.
However, developers who achieve high BREEAM ratings get a head start on this process by habitually using products that already meet a recognised sustainability standard. In many cases, this takes the form of an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD).
An EPD demonstrates the environmental performance of a product and is a Type III environmental declaration. This means that it meets International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) 14025 standards, agreed by global experts, for "quantifying environmental information on the life cycle of a product to enable comparisons between products fulfilling the same function”. Effectively, an EPD is a valuable building block towards a broader BREEAM certification because the BREEAM organisation actively recognises EPDs and rewards projects with credits towards their rating for using them.
At Wavin, a deep commitment to sustainability is core to our ethos. So we’re proud to be to be able to provide EPDs for the majority of products in in the UK and Ireland,.
Take our Wavin AS+ Soil system for example. It’s specified to optimise building performance by reducing sound in soil and waste pipe systems and has Environmental Product Declarations available giving a comprehensive and standardised report of its environmental impact. And our Recycore Technology in drain and soil pipes uses over 50% recycled PVC without any loss of strength, durability or performance. In fact, every one of our products has a sustainability story to tell but, for busy developers, our EPDs are a reassuring shorthand for the quality and environmental focus of our products.
We continue to invest and innovate to increase the sustainability of what we produce, and are on track to achieve carbon net zero by 2025. Our EPD-backed products are ready to support your developments towards a high BREEAM certification result.
Find out how Wavin can help you to build better here