The BREEAM International New Construction scheme can be used to assess the environmental life cycle impacts of new buildings at the design and construction stages. ‘New Construction’ is defined as development that results in a new standalone structure, or a new extension to an existing structure, which will come into operation or use for the first time upon completion of the works.
This BREEAM International New Construction scheme version is applicable to new buildings in countries without a BREEAM affiliated National Scheme Operator (NSO). Note: Where the country has a NSO offering a country-specific local scheme that is appropriate to the building type, their scheme must be used in preference to BREEAM International. Information on countries with local schemes can be found in Appendix A and also on the BREEAM website (www.breeam.com).
Type of buildings that can be assessed using BREEAM International New Construction
The building types which can be assessed and rated using this scheme version are outlined in Table 2.
Table 2: List of building types covered under BREEAM International New Construction Version 6
| Sector | Building type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Residential | Residential |
|
| Commercial | Offices |
|
| Industrial |
|
|
| Retail |
|
|
| Education1 |
|
|
| Residential institutions2 | Long term stay |
|
| Hotels and Residential institutions | Short term stay |
|
|
Bespoke |
|
Mixed-use developments and building types
Developments which consist of a number of separate buildings of differing functional types, or a single building containing a number of different functions, e.g. office and retail or retail and residential, will typically require an assessment and therefore BREEAM rating and certificate for each individual building or functional use within a single building.
This is necessary as BREEAM defines differing criteria and benchmarks for some assessment issues according to building type, function and use. Therefore to maintain comparability and consistency of the assessment and BREEAM rating, a separate assessment score and rating are required for each building type, function or use in the development.
Further guidance on how to define mixed-use developments for the purpose of a BREEAM assessment can be found in Guidance Note 10 Mixed-use developments and similar buildings (or units).
Part new-build, part refurbishment projects
For developments that are a mixture of new-build and refurbished areas, the choice of scheme depends on the scope of the new-build and refurbishment works.
For smaller projects, where the total development area is less than 1000m², a single BREEAM assessment can be undertaken to cover both the new-build and refurbished areas. The BREEAM New Construction or BREEAM Refurbishment and Fit-out scheme choice will be based on whichever (new-build or refurbishment) constitutes the majority of the assessed floor area.
For larger projects, a single New Construction assessment can be undertaken, as the refurbished areas would then have to reach the more challenging New Construction criteria. If the development is predominantly refurbishment with a new-build extension, then the BREEAM Refurbishment and Fit-out scheme contains thresholds under which a single Refurbishment and Fit-out assessment can be completed.
Where the new extension is above these thresholds and a single BREEAM Refurbishment and Fit-out assessment is not appropriate, there are two options as described below.
Option 1: Separate BREEAM New Construction and BREEAM Refurbishment and Fit-out assessments
Under option 1, two separate BREEAM assessments are conducted with a BREEAM New Construction assessment undertaken on the new extension and a BREEAM Refurbishment and Fit-out assessment undertaken on the existing building refurbishment or fit-out. Two separate certificates and ratings can be obtained to indicate the performance of both the new extension and existing building refurbishment or fit-out.
Option 2: Bespoke BREEAM combined New Construction and Refurbishment and Fit-out assessment
Under option 2, BRE Global produces a bespoke criteria appendix document that determines, for specific BREEAM issues, which issues and assessment criteria are applicable to the part new-build, part-refurbishment project. It refers to both the BREEAM Refurbishment and Fit-out manual and the BREEAM New Construction manual. A bespoke Scoring and Reporting tool is also produced for the project.
As part of the bespoke criteria development for issue Ene 01 Reduction of energy use and carbon emissions we allow the new-build to be assessed against the New Construction scheme and the refurbishment against the RFO scheme. The tool performs an area-weighted average score.
In determining the appropriate option for a part new-build, part-refurbishment project, the BREEAM Assessor should review the scope of the proposed works and consider in particular the scope of the refurbished elements, i.e. is it a major refurbishment, will there be a significant change of use and will the building's thermal and structural elements remain ‘as existing’? Using this information, the assessor should advise the client on the most suitable option in terms of which BREEAM version or scheme is most appropriate for maximising the building's environmental performance.
BREEAM International New Construction assessment types
Within the International New Construction scheme a number of assessment types are defined and can be used to assess and rate a new building's performance. These are:
- Non-residential
- Fully fitted
- Shell and core (see Appendix D – Shell and core project assessments)
- Shell only (see Appendix D – Shell and core project assessments)
- Residential
The assessment criteria for these options are clearly identified in this technical manual. The assessor, in collaboration with the client and design team as necessary, should determine which BREEAM assessment type is relevant for their project.
Similar building types (or units) on the same site
It is possible to assess and rate a number of separate but similar non-residential buildings, or individual units within a larger building development, within one BREEAM assessment report. Further guidance on this type of assessment can be found in Guidance Note 10 Mixed use developments and similar buildings (or units).
Shell and core, speculative buildings
Non-fitted out ‘speculative’ new buildings, often referred to as shell and core buildings, can be assessed using the BREEAM International New Construction scheme. Further details on the application of the scheme to these types of new building can be found in Appendix D – Shell and core project assessments.