Sustainability

29th October 2018

BREEAM takes Chinese lessons

How ‘green’ is construction in China? How does it compare to Europe & North America? How quickly is the industry developing? These were some of the questions in my mind as I ventured on my first trip to the country. And whilst I don’t profess to now have all the answers, I learned a lot … Continue reading “BREEAM takes Chinese lessons”

11th October 2018

International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction 2018: – QSAND supporting the reduction in direct disaster economic losses

The International Day for Disaster Reduction, held every 13th October, celebrates how people and communities around the world are reducing their exposure to disasters. Each year a different theme of disaster reduction is highlighted, and for 2018 the focus is on reduction of economic losses as a result of disasters globally. This corresponds to target … Continue reading “International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction 2018: – QSAND supporting the reduction in direct disaster economic losses”

20th September 2018

Hulhumale, the City of Hope

In February, HDC (the Housing Development Corporation of the Maldives, the state-owned master developer of the new island city of Hulhumale) contacted the BRE regarding our potential involvement in assessing future developments there. A small delegation from BREEAM have returned from talks regarding further co-operation with HDC on this ambitious project. Known mainly as a … Continue reading “Hulhumale, the City of Hope”

14th August 2018

Getting results with building LCA

  As described in the earlier article Why building LCA?, BREEAM New Construction 2018 requires building LCA to be carried out for the new Mat 01 issue. The requirements in Mat 01 focus on rewarding good quality building LCA through comparison with a benchmark and options appraisal. Starting with the project brief/requirements, designers use building … Continue reading “Getting results with building LCA”

10th August 2018

Home Quality Mark ONE – helping change the culture in home building

Building more high-quality new homes that fit our current and future needs is a national priority.  BRE has developed the Home Quality Mark (HQM) to provide developers with the tools and framework to differentiate, prove and communicate the benefits of their homes. This then gives consumer, clients, financiers and the wider sector the information and … Continue reading “Home Quality Mark ONE – helping change the culture in home building”

4th July 2018

5 years on and the futures bright for BRE National Solar Centre

In 2013, Greg Barker, the then Minister State for Energy and Climate Change officially opened the BRE National Solar Centre, the UK solar industry was flourishing with approximately 8,800 new PV systems being installed every month adding over 1.1GW of capacity within the year. A lot has changed for solar over the last 5 years.  … Continue reading “5 years on and the futures bright for BRE National Solar Centre”

20th June 2018

BRE is more than green buildings, it’s changing the impact of the built environment.

When BRE rolled out BREEAM In-Use in America, it was to fill the gap of the 5.6 million existing buildings that were not being addressed with available green building rating systems. BREEAM In-Use doesn’t involve prerequisites so nearly any commercial building no matter what size, age or condition could benefit from using the program to … Continue reading “BRE is more than green buildings, it’s changing the impact of the built environment.”