BRE has launched a guide to support companies and organisations understand and meet EU Taxonomy obligations. By using BRE’s market-leading assessment tool, BREEAM, there are a range of methods that asset owners can use to accurately demonstrate their sustainability outcomes. Our Guide to the EU Taxonomy and BREEAM, shows how the BREEAM suite of products can be used by stakeholders to save time in meeting the EU Taxonomy requirements.

The guide shows how, with evidence already gathered for BREEAM, that they are already on the way to demonstrating which of their investments and assets in the built environment meet the EU Taxonomy screening criteria, to help them comply with and stay ahead of requirements.

The guide also provides a mapping of the EU Taxonomy requirements that have been published to date onto BREEAM building schemes, indicating the extent to which the schemes align with the EU Taxonomy, so that they can be used to demonstrate compliance. The guide will be updated to reflect new or amended Technical Screening criteria released by the European Commission, as well as updated BREEAM scheme versions.

The EU Taxonomy for sustainable activities is a classification system which was established to clarify which investments are environmentally sustainable. This affects both EU Companies and those looking for investment with the EU. As such a landmark piece of policy there is also interest from well beyond Europe. Companies based in Europe, or those operating a European legal entity with more than 500 employees, will need to report on EU Taxonomy compliance to the European Commission.

The building level information captured through BREEAM can feed into a company’s overall Taxonomy compliance which aligns with the detailed criteria required to be reported on for the first time this year (2022) – requirements to demonstrate sustainability are arising from many areas, reinforcing the role BREEAM can play in supporting organisations who need to demonstrate sustainability as part of the framework.

Christina Georgiadou Principal Consultant Sustainable Finance and Healthy Buildings – BREEAM, commented: “With this year’s deadline to meet EU Taxonomy requirements looming, organisations across Europe will need to find cost-effective and efficient ways of demonstrating how they are meeting legal reporting requirements.

“This is another area where BREEAM can play a vital role, helping building owners, occupants, and investors achieve their sustainability goals and comply with current and future Taxonomy requirements with the use of a world-leading science and data-driven validation system.”

BREEAM provides a holistic, balanced, and accessible way to assess the sustainability of a building. It uses a flexible approach which considers energy, carbon, health & wellbeing, water, materials, waste and more and has been shown to create healthy, comfortable, high-performing buildings which meet the needs of building owners, occupants, and investors by achieving higher building values and incomes due to the multiple benefits delivered by sustainable buildings.

For those interested in finding comprehensive criteria for sustainable investments and green bonds, BREEAM also assesses a wide range of sustainability issues with third-party verification. BREEAM gives stakeholders the assurance that their building meets the claims and the credibility needed for good investments.

Read the BREEAM guide to the EU Taxonomy and BREEAM.