BREEAM Communities is a new approach to the sustainability assessment of the built environment that will assist developers and local planners address sustainability objectives and planning system requirements at the early planning stage for development projects within the built environment. It consists of environmental, social and economic sustainability objectives that are linked to core planning policy requirements used to guide and support the delivery of national, regional and local policy targets.
Categories and issues covered by BREEAM Communities and the Sustainable Development Framework include:
The Code for Sustainable Homes rates the sustainability of homes from level 1 to 6 on the basis of a points scoring system, where level 1 is a modest improvement on minimum regulatory standards and level 6 is an extremely challenging standard. Points are awarded under nine categories of sustainability on the basis of certain targets being met, e.g. reduced CO2 emissions or water consumption, or incorporation of certain elements of sustainable design. The nine categories are:
Under some categories, such as energy, minimum standards are stipulated that must be met to achieve a certain Code level, these are the mandatory standards, whereas under other categories developers are given the flexibility to choose which actions to take to score the points required for a certain target Code level.
In April 2007 the Code for Sustainable Homes replaced Ecohomes for the assessment of new housing in England. EcoHomes 2006 will continue to be used for refurbished housing in England and for all housing in Scotland and Wales.
The aim of a post-occupancy evaluation is to understand the performance of a building in respect to the energy use, environmental impact and occupant satisfaction, especially in terms of thermal comfort. It is important to know how a building is performing and ultimately if it can perform better in order for the building and future buildings to move forward and become more efficient. Findings from the POE are collaborated and can be fed back to the client and designers to add to their knowledge of the building and the occupant to improve their use of the building. The occupants in particular benefit from having a post occupancy evaluation carried out, as buildings often need some fine tuning to ensure they perform well and provide comfortable conditions for those who live there. Post-occupancy evaluations can benefit every building assessed, the client, occupier, industry and the management of the building in the future.A POE also improves the interface between the designers and occupants smoothing the handover process allowing the occupant to get the best performance from their building.
The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System, developed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), provides a suite of standards for the environmentally sustainable design, construction and operation of buildings and neighborhoods.
Green Building Council members, representing every sector of the building industry, developed and continue to refine LEED. The rating systems address eight major areas:
The term 'PassivHaus' refers to a specific construction standard for buildings which have excellent comfort conditions in both winter and summer. These principles can be applied not only to the residential sector but also to commercial, industrial and public buildings.
