The Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Methodology (BREEAM) has been used for more than 10 years to assess and optimise the environmental performance of new buildings at the design stage. It provides a transparent label of performance used by tenants and designers to distinguish and specify buildings which embrace environmental best practice in their design and procurement.

BREEAM rates a building design against a number of benchmarks related to Management, Health and Wellbeing, Energy, Transport, Water, Materials, Land Use, Ecology and Pollution. The number of credits achieved within each of these sections is used to produce an overall BREEAM rating of Pass, Good, Very Good or Excellent. Each section is weighted according to its importance.

Of all the BREEAM sections, Energy carries the heaviest weighting. It is therefore absolutely critical to obtain well-informed advice with respect to the Energy credits, as the services design and performance of a building so often governs the overall BREEAM rating. Carpenter Davies Partnership Ltd. are experienced building services engineers and can therefore offer a one-stop shop with respect to BREEAM and mechanical and electrical services design, and the associated duties.

CDP hold the Accredited Professional (AP) qualification which allows the award of additional credits where the appointment of an AP occurs at or before RIBA Stage B.  We are finding that with the changing Part L legislation, the appointment of an AP is becoming more critical to ensure that the required BREEAM rating can be achieved at affordable cost. It is of particular benefit if the AP is an experienced building services engineer, as is the case with CDP.

CDP are able to carry out daylight calculations, dynamic simulations in accordance with CIBSE AM11 and reports in to the use of LZC technologies, all of which can provide important credits when carrying out the BREEAM assessments.
For all types of assessment, our consultancy services are based upon our experience using BREEAM on live schemes and are designed to ensure that you receive all of the project specific guidance and support at the right time to enable you to reach your target BREEAM rating in the most cost effective manner. Our standard assessment service includes: -

• Design team BREEAM workshop to undertake initial assessment of the proposed development;
• Guidance report advising on how to comply with BREEAM credits and the information which should be gathered by the design team;
• Issuing proforma’s to assist the team to gather the required information;
• Ongoing support by an experienced assessor during the design process;
• Final certification report and liaison with BRE during quality assurance process.

We can also provide quality assured Post Construction Review (PCR) Assessments of completed developments including the advice required to ensure that the design stage BREEAM rating is carried through to the Post Construction Review stage.

We are qualified in the following BREEAM sectors:

-           Offices
-           Education
-           Retail
-           Industrial
-           Other Buildings (Bespoke)
-           Multi-residential
-           Health

Several key organisations throughout the UK insist on a BREEAM Assessment where the project is affiliated with the organisation, through planning, land ownership or a general client requirement.  These include:-

Welsh Assembly Government – BREEAM ‘Very Good’ and often a requirement for ‘Excellent’ (particularly with the Energy credits), on all projects where land is sold by the Welsh Assembly Government.  TAN 8 (Planning for Renewable Energy) and TAN 22 (Planning for Sustainable Buildings) are of particular relevance.

English Partnerships – BREEAM ‘Very Good’ or ‘Excellent’ required on all projects.

DCFS (Department for Children, Schools and Families) – BREEAM ‘Very Good’ on all projects involving capital funding.

Regional Development Agencies – The BRE is working with RDAS to develop regional versions of the sustainability checklist for developments.

Local Authorities – Planning requirements dictates environmental standards, including Section 106 Agreements