BREEAM as a Source of FM Best Practice Guide

The Building Research Establishment’s Environmental Assessment Method, or BREEAM, is one of the most fully developed and widely used environmental assessment tools for buildings in the world. It takes building design and construction performance above and beyond the regulatory requirements to provide a widely recognised benchmark of sustainable best practice.

It recognises and reflects the value in higher performing assets across the built environment lifecycle, from new construction to in-use and refurbishment.

BREEAM New Construction is the standard against which the sustainability of new, non-residential buildings in the UK is assessed. Buildings are rated and certified on a scale of 'Pass', 'Good', 'Very Good', 'Excellent' and 'Outstanding'.

BREEAM In-Use standard can be used to assess all existing non-domestic building types against nine environmental categories: Energy, Water, Transport, Management, Waste, Pollution, Health & Well-Being, Land Use & Ecology and Materials. The standard is broken into three parts, each looking at different aspects of the building:

1. Part 1 – Asset Performance: the performance of the assets built form, construction, fixtures, fittings and installed services
2. Part 2 – Building Management: the operations and management of the asset
3. Part 3 – Occupier Management: the management of building users and services within the building (offices only)

As an example, Asset Performance HEA 03 – Thermal control.

Do occupants of the asset have personal control over the temperature in their work area?

Assessment criteria 

1. Local occupant control is available for temperature adjustment in separate zones. 
2. Zoning refers to adequate sections of the building. For example, zoning should consider the different requirements for the central core of a building compared with the external perimeter adjacent to the windows

Temperature control is a common issue for a facility manager in the day to day management of the service delivery to the occupiers. Temperatures in the indoor workplace are covered by the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992, which place a legal obligation on employers to provide a ‘reasonable’ temperature in the workplace. 

The author advocates that where a building has BREEAM New Construction accreditation, it is logical to continue with BREEAM In-Use assessment. If not, BREEAM In-Use International 2015 Technical Manual is a useful guide for FM best practice and sustainability. The aim is to cover a range of initiatives shown below which might be undertaken by the FM to improve building performance.

• Health and Wellbeing 
• Energy 
• Transport 
• Water 
• Materials 
• Waste 
• Pollution