New green community standard
June 22, 2009
The Building Research Establishment (BRE) has been looking at ways to ensure that green standards are used across entire developments, rather than in single commercial units or homes. BRE has therefore been developing a sustainability standard that can be applied to developments as a whole, with the Athlete's Village for the 2012 Olympics being amongst its pilot projects.
The BRE's BREEAM schemes (BRE Environmental Assessment Method) are already a commonly used method of environmental assessment for buildings in the UK. Carol Atkinson, Chief Executive of BRE Global, said, "This new scheme is an important addition to the BREEAM family - it ensures we can provide certification for all the various stages of the life-cycle of buildings."
The new scheme, "BREEAM Communities", will complement the existing BREEAM schemes and also the Code for Sustainable Homes to provide an "holistic approach to the sustainability of buildings and communities". Its aim is to help planners and developers improve, manage and independently certify the sustainability of development proposals through the various stages of the planning process.
Carol Atkinson said, "BREEAM Communities is an open source framework, which builds on the objectives of the existing Regional Sustainability Checklists already used by many developers. It is a powerful tool to assess the sustainability of communities and provide third party certification."
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