Sustainability in construction has become a fundamental pillar for the design and development of more efficient and environmentally friendly buildings.
In this continuous quest for improvement, BREEAM V7 New Construction, version 7 of the BREEAM certification, a globally recognized assessment and certification tool that redefines sustainability standards in the construction sector, has been launched.
Key innovations in BREEAM V7 New Construction
In the latest version of BREEAM New Construction Version 7 (V7), emphasis has been placed on a more comprehensive and scientific approach to address operational and embodied carbon.
These changes seek to harmonize the assessment of energy, water, pollution and management, and to establish a consistent method for measuring and comparing carbon performance, from a scientific perspective based on Life Cycle Assessment (LCA).
Significant upgrades in BREEAM V7 New Construction
BREEAM New Construction Version 7 has introduced significant updates to its assessment approach to address energy efficiency and visual comfort.
These strategic changes seek to improve the measurement of energy consumption, more accurately consider the impact of unregulated energy, as well as update visual comfort standards, while making it easier to access and understand scheme information.
Improvements in energy consumption
Compliance modeling:
The current approach to compliance modeling will be largely maintained, ensuring a stable basis for evaluators and designers.
However, a significant change is introduced to the energy performance assessment methodology, seeking a more accurate representation of energy consumption over the life cycle of the building.
This change aims to improve the comparison of energy performance between buildings, incorporating updated elements to reflect advances in energy efficiency and sustainability in construction.
2. Persistence in the prediction of energy credits:
It involves the ability to forecast and compare energy performance between different stages of a building’s life cycle.
Energy credit forecasting allows comparisons to be made between new and existing buildings, assessing how a new building is expected to consume energy compared to an existing building.
This is fundamental to understanding and demonstrating the positive impact in terms of energy efficiency that new buildings are intended to achieve. In V7 there will be greater transparency and understanding of the criteria and processes involved in obtaining energy credits, thus facilitating their application and evaluation in practice.
New exemplary level criteria:
Third-party verification of energy models.
4. Introduction of operational energy performance benchmarks.
Metrics will be established for both carbon intensity and energy use intensity.
In addition, this approach will encompass both regulated and unregulated energy use in the building.
Integrating both types of energy consumption allows for a more complete picture of the total energy consumption in the building, which facilitates a more accurate comparison of energy performance against established benchmarks.
5. Commitment to measure energy efficiency in use
In summary, these proposed changes to the BREEAM assessment methodology seek to provide a more holistic approach by considering both carbon emissions and energy consumption, as well as encompassing controlled and uncontrolled energy use.
This will provide a more comprehensive assessment of the energy performance of buildings and allow for more accurate comparisons to measure their sustainability.
Reconfiguration of non-regulated energy issues
Uses of unregulated energy
NEA (Energy Emission Analysis) method:
It is used to estimate the final use of different fuels in a building, allowing to evaluate the proportion of regulated versus unregulated energy.
This ratio serves as the basis for allocating credits, rather than having a fixed amount of predefined credits for non-regulated energy uses.
2. Focus on aspects of greatest impact:
The analysis of the proportion of regulated and unregulated energy is prioritized to focus on the aspects that have the greatest impact on energy efficiency.
This is adapted to different types of buildings and specific services within them, focusing attention on the areas with the greatest potential for improvement.
3. End-use systems and efficiency criteria:
Energy efficiency criteria are established for end-use systems such as lighting or transportation within the building.
These criteria are updated according to current technical manuals and previous experiences, seeking to demonstrate a significant reduction in energy consumption.
4. Granting of credits:
Credits are assigned based on the percentage of non-regulated energy uses that are energy efficient.
In addition, it should be noted that the BREEAM online platform will perform these calculations automatically, simplifying the process of evaluating and assigning credits, making it quicker and easier to obtain them.
Demand-side management
Demand Side Management is a new aspect in the energy section of BREEAM, marking an innovation in the UK context, although it is already present in the international version of New Construction.
This approach aims to reward the flexibility of the technologies implemented in buildings compared to a set ceiling, thus improving the current methodology, especially in relation to the international version.
The main objective is to underline the importance of managing energy demand with greater flexibility to facilitate the decarbonization of the electricity grid, with these measures being a direct contribution to broader decarbonization and energy sustainability efforts.
In summary, this addition to the BREEAM methodology seeks to promote and value the use of more adaptable technologies in buildings to support decarbonization and energy sustainability in general.
Control approach installed
The focus on control installed in buildings is on evaluating the functionality of the control systems, which monitor and regulate the services within the structure.
It is emphasized that it is not enough to have these services, but it is crucial to have efficient control systems to use these services optimally.
The proposed methodology is based on the European Union (EU) smart readiness indicators, suggesting an alignment with internationally recognized standards for assessing the efficiency of controls in a building.
In summary, this new approach in BREEAM focuses on assessing the efficiency of the control systems installed in buildings, using internationally recognized indicators to evaluate and improve how these controls contribute to the energy efficiency of the building.
Life Cycle Assessment and embodied carbon
1. Transition to embodied carbon:
The transition from operational carbon to embodied carbon is emphasized as the main theme of the LCA.
This transition is considered essential to assess carbon emissions throughout the life cycle of the building, from construction to demolition.
2. Alignment between UK and international versions:
The intention to align the UK and international versions more closely in terms of requirements and assessment methods is mentioned.
Simplification of requirements:
Elimination of requirements that were considered excessive at specific stages of the appraisal process, such as the number of options or appraisals for each building element.
4. Elimination of requirements:
The elimination of eco-point reporting and the reduction of reliance on specific software for impact benchmarking is reported.
5. Addition of new elements and changes in the LCA:
The awarding of credits for performing a full LCA during specific stages of design and construction is added.
A requirement to provide embodied carbon benchmarks for older building types is also introduced, in addition to a new embodied carbon reporting template that will be aligned with external standards.
These changes to the LCA methodology within BREEAM seek a transition to embodied carbon assessment, simplification of requirements, alignment between UK and international versions, and the introduction of new aspects to improve the accuracy and relevance of building sustainability assessment.
Visual comfort upgrade
1. Review of visual comfort:
A review of the visual comfort issue has been undertaken, involving a health and wellness technical working group as well as lighting experts.
This has led to changes that will impact both the UK and international versions, seeking to harmonize and standardize requirements wherever possible.
2. Elimination and addition of requirements:
The international prerequisite of having high-frequency palettes for fluorescent lighting is eliminated, moving it to internal and external lighting, zoning and controls as part of visual comfort.
In addition, credit will be added for daylighting potential and the importance of glare control will be recognized.
New criteria and metrics:
A credit for direct sunlight in windows will be introduced for certain types of buildings, such as health care, education and residential.
A credit for the non-visual effects of lighting will also be considered, focused on ensuring adequate light levels for people’s circadian rhythms, which have been shown to be important for indoor health.
4. Reconsideration of the calculation methodology:
Removal of the daylight factor as a compliance route in the UK for new construction, moving it to the knowledge base.
This change is made on the basis that other methodologies have been shown to exceed this measure, although it is considered to be retained as an option in the international handbook for new construction.
These changes to the lighting and visual comfort criteria within BREEAM seek to improve energy efficiency, lighting quality and the well-being of building occupants by introducing new credits, removing obsolete requirements and aligning standards with new research and effective practices.
Launching and closing of scheme information
The new BREEAM V7 for New Construction is scheduled for launch in summer 2024.
Registrations will close three months after launch day, as usual.
Training is planned with the aim of upskilling existing assessors and accompanying the launch of this new version.
In addition, a training module aimed at senior assessors is planned, providing additional details on the concepts presented for a better understanding of the requirements.
Although it will not be mandatory, it is expected that this module will be useful for assessors in general.
In addition, a version seven of the Trianon course for newer assessors will also be run concurrently with the launch of BREEAM V7 New Construction.
BREEAM V7 for New Construction marks a milestone in building sustainability.
It features key innovations in life cycle assessment and embodied carbon, highlighting energy efficiency, visual comfort and demand management.
These improvements offer a more comprehensive and accurate assessment of energy performance and sustainability.
The focus on training for assessors reflects a commitment to greener and more efficient standards, promoting more sustainable building practices to preserve the environment.
