Environmental and health related criteria for buildings - ANEC

IBO - Environmental and Health related Criteria for Buildings
4.3. BREEAM – UK
Residential buildings
BRE developed a scheme for the assessment of housing called “EcoHomes” which can
assess new homes, apartments/flats, and houses, apartments and flats undergoing major
refurbishment at the design stage and post construction. The scheme EcoHomes became a
national code in an adapted form in April 2007 and is mandatory from 1st May 2008 for all
new self contained dwellings in England to include a Code for Sustainable Homes (CSH)
certificate in the Home Information Pack (HIP). The Code has been drafted by the BREEAM
Centre at the Building Research Establishment (BRE) under contract to the Department for
Communities and Local Government.
The Code for Sustainable Homes (CSH) is a national standard for use in the design and
construction of new homes with a view to encouraging continuous improvement in
sustainable home building. CSH was based on BREEAM Ecohomes but differs to the
common BREEAM schemes in main categories, rating levels (level 1 to 6 where 6 is the
highest), weightings and targets to achieve.
CSH has been selected for comparison as it is the assessment which all new build homes in
England have to undergo since May 2008. CSH assesses individual dwellings (instead of
group of dwellings) and establishes minimum mandatory standards for CO 2 emission rates,
indoor water use, materials, waste and surface water run-off, for achieving even the lowest
level of the Code. For dwellings which do not achieve the minimum Code rating, a certificate
is issued which shows a summary of the performance achieved, but does not show a rating
from 1 to 6. For dwellings which are not assessed, a nil-rated certificate is issued. In addition
to the mandatory standards, each design category scores a number of percentage points.
The total number of percentage points establishes the Level or Rating for the dwelling. The
certificate illustrates the rating achieved with a row of stars. A blue star is awarded for each
level achieved. Where an assessment has taken place by where no rating is achieved, the
certificate states that zero stars have been awarded.
From the 1st of May 2008, a minimum of Code Level 3 is required for all new housing
promoted or supported by the Welsh Assembly Government or their sponsored bodies and
from 2nd June 2008, Code Level 3 is required for all new self-contained social housing in
Northern Ireland. The Code does not apply in Scotland.
The code contains mandatory performance levels in 6 key areas (see 13.2 Appendix: Code
for Sustainable Homes (CSH)) which are the following
- Energy and CO 2 Emissions
- Water Efficiency
- Water Surface Run-off
- Site Waste Management
- Household Waste Management
- Materials
- Lifetime Homes (only Level 6)
Final Report 28 31 03 2011