News & Insights

Our latest news and thinking

Houses being built with exposed roof trusses

BRE responds to reports of UK government’s u-turn on biodiversity net gains

BRE responds to reports that the UK Government is to delay new environmental building guidelines, which are designed to ensure developers leave the natural environment in a measurably improved state ...
Aerial view of green tree tops

BRE responds to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s update to UK green policies

BRE has long argued that we urgently require a clear, long-term plan to transition our homes and buildings away from fossil fuel boilers and on to clean heat, and the ...
BRE Global signs MoU with Dubai-based fire testing laboratory Thomas Bell-Wright International Consultants

BRE Global signs MoU with Dubai-based fire testing laboratory Thomas Bell-Wright International Consultants

BRE Global and Thomas Bell-Wright International Consultants are pleased to announce the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two organisations ...

Poor housing costs the NHS £1.4bn a year

Our findings reveal that 2.6 million homes in England, 11% of the country’s housing stock, are categorised as ‘poor quality’.

According to BRE’s analysis, more than half (£857 million) of this annual NHS treatment bill can be attributed to defects in homes which expose residents to excess cold, while the second biggest cost to the NHS comes from hazards which cause people to fall and injure themselves, often on staircases.

Download the report

The cost of poor housing report from BRE
A man sitting at a desk looking at a PC screen showing various building schematics.

Environmental Product Declarations for construction products with BRE

The built environment contributes 40% of greenhouse gases globally. In an era defined by growing environmental consciousness, businesses are increasingly recognising the need to adopt sustainable practices to mitigate their

EPD
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LPCB Certification and Kingspan

Following BRE’s decision last year to end its commercial relationship with Kingspan, BRE now confirms that all existing Kingspan products that were previously listed on RedBookLive have been recertified. BRE
Looking up at a glass skyscaper next to a tree

NABERS UK to seek new administrator as BRE moves to focus on BREEAM

The Building Research Establishment (BRE) and NABERS have today announced that BRE is ending its licence agreement for the energy performance rating tool, NABERS UK, in order to focus on
Indoor environment with houseplants in foreground

Navigating urbanisation: a focus on better standards for indoor air quality

The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that outdoor and indoor air pollution contribute to millions of premature deaths annually. As we primarily live within indoor spaces, we become more susceptible

BRE Academy
A view looking upwards of the internal structure of a modern building made from, timber and glass

Net Zero Carbon Buildings Standard public consultation

BRE, in collaboration with the construction and built environment sector, is working to create robust and practical solutions to the global climate crisis.
contemporary apartments

Advancing ESG: Driving asset sustainability with BREEAM and GRESB

Hear from Breana Wheeler, US Director of Operations at BREEAM, and Dan Winters, Senior Director of Market Development and Strategic Initiatives at GRESB, as they discuss how the commercial real
Biodiversity and the natural environment | BREEAM

Building an effective net zero strategy with BREEAM

Investors and owners in every major real estate market in the world are grappling with the risks and opportunities presented by climate change, and the pressing need to decarbonise the

BREEAM News, International
Tower blocks and blocks of flats

Poor housing will cost over £135.5bn over the next 30 years without urgent action

A new cost-benefit analysis published today by the Building Research Establishment (BRE) has revealed that remedial work to England’s poorest housing could provide £135.5 billion (bn) in societal benefits over
The gesticulating arms of an unseen person sits at a desk. On the desk sits a mobile phone and a laptop with a blurred screen

Driving change: BREEAM and net zero carbon update

As the need to address the impact of the built environment becomes more urgent, the launch of BREEAM Version 7 consultation and BRE’s net zero carbon survey aims to put
A child washing her hands at the sink

Changing the way we heat our homes to meet net zero: putting households at the centre.

According to BRE research, sixty two percent of British home owners wouldn’t feel at all confident explaining how a heat pump works and in Autumn 2022 a UK government survey

insights
Building exterior covered in plants

BRE consults on net zero BREEAM update

BRE launches consultation to seek views on a major update to its world-leading sustainability assessment method, BREEAM.

International
Vesteda's housing at Schullenburg

27,500 Dutch homes provide BREEAM’s largest single certification yet

Vesteda, a Dutch residential investor has achieved the single largest real estate sustainability certification in the world, through BRE’s leading certification scheme, BREEAM.

BREEAM, International, news

Frameworks to build a better Britain

Frameworks to build a better Britain is a BRE series of roundtables and interviews with planners, architects, policy-makers, and construction experts about the future of the built environment.

Read our latest roundtable discussion, hosted in Manchester on the question: How can Britain’s Built Environment Tackle Social Exclusion?

featured insights

The Biophilic Office