BREEAM Webinar Series: Driving Sustainability with New Construction V7

The webinar, Driving Sustainability with New Construction V7, was chaired by Alexandra Notay, RBT Housing Commission and Founder of Notay Advisory Ltd. The session explored how BREEAM integrates carbon emissions, resilience, social value, and nature-based design, showing how these elements interconnect to form practical strategies within New Construction V7.

If you missed this webinar the recording is now available for you to view

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speakers

Alexandra Notay, RBT House Commission and Founder Notay Advisory Ltd.

“We’re now seeing large developers and fund managers include sustainability within their core audits, which marks a real shift in focus. But to make that meaningful, we need numbers and baselines that are coherent and easy to understand, even for non-specialists.

That’s where the new BREEAM digital platform is so valuable. By gathering all the underlying data, it allows reporting across different definitions and markets, helping everyone align around common metrics and ask the right questions.”

James Fisher, Head of Strategic Partnerships, BRE

“Resilience has really come into sharp focus in recent years. For a long time, industry professionals found it easier to grasp the physical aspects of climate risk — storms, rising water levels, and their immediate impacts. Now we’re seeing a real shift in how investors and insurers think about transition risks and long-term asset value.

A funder won’t finance something if an insurer won’t cover it, and they understand that non-resilient assets will lose value over time. At the same time, existing assets present opportunities for new funds that see resilience not just as a risk to manage, but as a source of future value.”

James Fisher, Head of Strategic Partnerships, BRE

Tom Wilson, Head of BREEAM Development, BRE

“What once focused on cutting carbon, such as investing in renewables, is now driven by financial logic, as renewable energy has become the most cost-effective power source for buildings. When sustainability aligns with economic value, it becomes a far stronger and more compelling story to tell.”

Kaie Small- Warner, Head of Responsible Business, BRE

"A key challenge in real estate is the tendency to focus only on what sits within your ownership boundary. To address this, we’re working with experts from different fields and exploring place-based frameworks that extend beyond your immediate footprint.

We’re considering the wider community and master planning aspects to ensure we understand the broader impact. Our aim is not to create something entirely new, but to align existing approaches and support greater cohesion between community and asset-level needs.”

Kaie Small- Warner, Head of Responsible Business, BRE

Jennifer Dudley, Product Manager – Residential Housing, BRE

“BREEAM has always been built on a core set of science, and with Version 7 we’re really focusing on streamlining that across all stages of the building life cycle. We take that scientific foundation and adapt it to suit different territories and asset types, and residential is no exception.

For example, we might approach energy calculations slightly differently, but the principle remains the same — ensuring BREEAM is tailored to the specific needs of each asset and its context.”