To maintain a flexible system BREEAM adopts a ‘balanced score-card’ approach to the assessment and rating of building performance. This means that, to achieve a particular level of performance the majority of BREEAM credits can be traded, i.e. non-compliance in one area can be off-set through compliance in another to achieve the target BREEAM rating.
However, to ensure that performance against fundamental environmental issues is not overlooked in pursuit of a particular rating, BREEAM sets minimum standards of performance in key areas e.g. energy, water, waste etc. It is important to bear in mind that these are minimum acceptable levels of performance and, in that respect they should not necessarily be viewed as levels that are representative of best practice for a BREEAM rating level.
To achieve a particular BREEAM rating, the minimum overall percentage score must be achieved and the minimum standards, detailed in Table 4 , applicable to that rating level complied with.
Table 4 Minimum BREEAM standards by rating level
| Minimum standards by BREEAM rating level | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BREEAM issue | Pass | Good | Very Good | Excellent | Outstanding |
| Man 03: Responsible construction practices |
None |
None |
None |
One credit (Considerate construction) |
Two credits (Considerate construction) |
| Man 04: Commissioning and handover | None | None | None |
Criterion 10 (Building User Guide) |
Criterion 10 (Building User Guide) |
| Man 5: Aftercare | None | None | None | One credit (Seasonal commissioning | One credit (Seasonal commissioning) |
| Ene 01: Reduction of energy use and carbon emissions | None | None | None | Five credits | Eight credits |
| Ene 02: Energy monitoring | None | None |
One credit (First sub-metering credit) |
One credit (First sub-metering credit) |
One credit (First sub-metering credit) |
| Wat 01: Water consumption | None | One credit | One credit | One credit | Two credits |
| Wat 02: Water monitoring | None | Criterion 1 only | Criterion 1 only | Criterion 1 only | Criterion 1 only |
| Mat 03: Responsible sourcing of materials | Criterion 1 only | Criterion 1 only | Criterion 1 only | Criterion 1 only | Criterion 1 only |
| Wst 01: Construction waste management | None | None | None | None | One credit |
| Wst 03: Operational waste | None | None | None | One credit | One credit |
| LE 03: Minimising impact on existing site ecology | None | None | One credit | One credit | One credit |
BREEAM UK New Construction non-domestic buildings technical manual 2014
Reference: SD5076 – Issue: 5.0
Date: 23/08/2016
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