The latest BREEAM scheme Version 6.0 (V6) was launched back in August 2022. This update reflects the amendment to the Energy (Part L) and Ventilation (Part F2) sections of the Building Regulations (2021), which came into effect in June 2022.

In line with the updates to building regulations, the changes to BREEAM V6 includes:

• For England, updated energy performance scales (translator curves) in Ene 01

• Updated criteria relating to ventilation and air quality in Hea 02

UK NC 2018 or V6?

Early Actions

The V6 New Construction scheme continues to place a focus on completing sustainability actions early in the design process.

Early-stage credits, which are to be completed during the Preparation & Brief (stage 1) and concept design (stage 2), include:

• MAN 01 – Project brief and design

• MAN 02 – Life Cycle Cost

• HEA 02 – Indoor Air Quality Plan

• HEA 06 – Security Needs Assessment

• Ene 04 – Low carbon design

• TRA 01 – Transport Assessment and Travel Plan

• MAT 01 – Life Cycle Assessment

• MAT 03 – Sustainable Procurement Plan

• Mat 06 – Material efficiency

• WST 05 – Adaptation to Climate Change Appraisal

• WST 06 – Disassembly and Functional Adaptability Study

• LE 02-03 – Land Use and Ecology

BRE – Pushing Best Practice Forward

BREEAM seeks to push the best practice of the construction sector forwards; this is increasingly important in the face of the current climate crisis.

One way in which the BRE is looking to continue pushing best practice is through modular updates across multiple BREEAM schemes. These modular updates will be informed by priority areas such as energy and carbon.

In line with above, consultation for Version 7 will be undertaken in May with an estimated launch date of Winter 2023/ Early 2024.

Some of these anticipated benefits BREEAM Version 7 will bring to our customers includes the ability to:

• Better understand whole life carbon performance.

• Compare against embodied carbon and operational energy benchmarks.

• Monitor performance across a buildings lifecycle to understand any performance gap issues.

• Understand alignment with decarbonisation pathways.

• Ready themselves for our BREEAM NZC module (scheduled for release after Version 7).

For more details of our BREEAM related services please visit our BREEAM page.

If you would like to talk to us about BREEAM in more detail, please drop us an email.