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"Green" Issues

• BREEAM
• Green Guide to Specification
• GreenBookLive
• GreenSpec (National Green Specification)

BREEAM

Introduction

• BREEAM (BRE’s Environmental Assessment method) is the world’s longest established and most widely used environmental assessment method for buildings. It sets the standards for best practice in sustainable development and demonstrates a level of achievement. It has become the defacto measure, in the UK, of a building’s environmental performance.
• Those completely unfamiliar with BREEAM should start at the FAQ page of the BREEAM website.
• Website: [www.breeam.org]. The BREEAM 2011 version replaced BREEAM 2008 as the current version for new building assessment registrations and certifications from 1st July 2011.

When is a BREEAM Assessment required?

Mandatory

• BREEAM building assessments are required by various regulatory and government organisations in the United Kingdom including: English Partnerships; Office of Government Procurement (OGC); Department for Children, Families and Schools (DCFS); Housing Corporation; Welsh Assembly; and some Regional Development Agencies and Local Authorities.

Discretionary

• Many client organisations, building developers, and funding bodies use BREEAM ratings as a means of assessing the environmental performance of their buildings and may impose a target BREEAM rating level for specific developments.
• BREEAM ratings of "Very Good" or "Excellent" are often used in the marketing of specific buildings, or to establish the environmental credentials of the commissioning organisation.

Green Guide to Specification

Background

From the Green Guide website [www.thegreenguide.org.uk]:

The Green Guide is part of BREEAM (BRE Environmental Assessment Method) an accredited environmental rating scheme for buildings. The Green Guide contains more than 1500 specifications used in various types of building ...
Materials and components are arranged on an elemental basis so that designers and specifiers can compare and select from comparable systems or materials as they compile their specification ...
This data is set out as an A+ to E ranking system, where A+ represents the best environmental performance / least environmental impact, and E the worst environmental performance / most environmental impact ...

Commentary

Many experienced architects are of the view that some Green Guide Ratings are highly suspect in their technical content with high ratings (A/B) given to forms of construction which many specifiers would avoid and low ratings (D/E) given to what would normally be their preferred forms of construction.

Example 1 : Commercial > Roof Construction > Flat roof: Inverted deck

• Element Number: 812530026 - Summary Rating A. Structural steel trusses, galvanised steel purlins and deck, plywood (temperate EN 636-2), polymer modified polyester reinforced bitumen roofing membranes, insulation, rounded pebbles. Many specifiers regard bitumen roofing membranes as an unacceptable material for use in inverted roof construction. The design load for the structural steelwork would need to be increased to accommodate the additional loading of the pebbles.
• Element Number: 812530056/27 – Summary Rating D/E. In situ reinforced concrete (rating depends on concrete type), felt isolating layer, mastic asphalt roofing, insulation, rounded pebbles. This would be the preferred form of inverted roof construction for many experienced specifiers. See Flat roofs - Choosing the covering.

Example 2 : Commercial > Roof Construction > Flat roof

• Inverted deck : Element Number: 812530056/27 – Summary Rating D/E. In situ reinforced concrete (rating depends on concrete type), felt isolating layer, mastic asphalt roofing, insulation, rounded pebbles. This would be the preferred form of inverted roof construction for many experienced specifiers. See above.
• Inverted deck : Element Number: 812530046/36 – Summary Rating C/D. In situ reinforced concrete (rating depends on concrete type), EPDM single ply roofing membrane, insulation, rounded pebbles. Most experienced specifiers would regard an EPDM single ply membrane as inferior, or even unacceptable, when compared to mastic asphalt in this form of construction.
• Warm deck : Element Number : 812540003 - Summary Rating A+. Structural steel trusses, galvanised steel purlins and deck, vapour control layer, insulation, PVC single ply waterproofing membrane. The preferred form of lightweight deck flat roof construction for many experienced specifiers. See Flat roofs - Choosing the covering.
• But ... your flat roof has a lot of mechanical plant, requiring regular maintenance access, installed above it. Which form of construction would you prefer to specify?

GreenBookLive

From the GreenBookLive website [www.greenbooklive.com]:

GreenBookLive is a free to use online database designed to help specifiers and end users identify products and services that can help to reduce their impact on the environment.

The criteria for inclusion in the GreenBookLive schemes are rather more complicated than that for GreenSpec (see below) and the website is much more difficult to search unless the name of the product, manufacturer, or supplier is already known. More useful for checking than initial searching.

GreenSpec (National Green Specification)

From the GreenSpec website [www.greenspec.co.uk]:

GreenSpec was founded in 2003 as a government-funded joint project with BRE to identify and catalogue building products containing recycled material. On completion of the project in 2005, the steering committee recommended the growing of the site to include all easily identifiable green building products and materials. Today GreenSpec is widely regarded as the standard source of reference in respect of sustainable construction and products ...

GreenSpec is now a commercial website funded by advertising and product manufacturers. A useful resource.

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