Enivronmental Building Performance Systems
Breeam Standards
BREEAM is the Building Research Establishment’s Environmental Assessment Method and is highly regarded in the construction and property sector as the measure of best practice in environmental design and management. More information on the subject can be found on the BREEAM website: www.breeam.org. It is a grant requirement that new building work shall be to a BREEAM standard appropriate to the development.
For further information please refer to the relevant section(s) of the Guidance for Sustainable Design in the National Parks of Wales’ available through the National Park Authority or its web site (living in, current policies/design guidance).
Other environmental building performance systems are also include:
- BRE's EcoHome system has been replaced for new-build in England by the Code for Sustainable Homes, though it will still be used for upgrades of existing buildings.
- Code for Sustainable Homes level 5 equates to SAP 100, Code level 6 to a zero-carbon home.
- The Energy Performance Certificates currently being introduced when a house is sold will give an Energy Efficiency rating A to G looking only at the SAP (fabric performance of the building and heating/hot water installations,) and do not take into account cooking and electrical equipment.
- The National Home Energy Rating NHER system (latest 2006) rates buildings 0-20 with 0 being poor, current (2006) Building Regulations would score 8. The top rating, 20 is for buildings with zero total fuel costs and would require electricity generation on the building being bought by the electricity company for the same cost as they charge to supply green electricity.
- The AECB has a system that takes all energy use into account and must be verified by post-construction testing and in-use monitoring. Their standards are Silver and Gold. Gold equates to the German Passivhaus standard in which a heating installation is not required. AECB is based in Llandysul in Wales.
