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BREEAM & The Green Guide to Specification
The BRE's Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) is a design and management stage assessment tool that provides an environmental label for buildings, based on good practice.
BREEAM is widely used to specify overall environmental performance. One of the aims of BREEAM is to encourage the use of materials that have lower impact on the environment, taking account of the full life cycle of the materials in question.
EcoHomes and The Green Guide to Housing Specification
EcoHomes is the housing version of BREEAM. As with BREEAM, one of the aims of EcoHomes is to encourage the use of materials with the lowest environmental impact, taking into account their full life cycle.
How does BREEAM work?
BREEAM assesses the performance of buildings in the following areas;
Credits are awarded in each of the areas according to performance. A set of environmental weightings then enables the credits to be added together to produce a single overall score. The building is then rated on a scale of: pass, good, very good or excellent.
The building is then rated on a scale of Pass, Good, Very Good or Excellent.
Within BREEAM, materials credits are achieved by specifying materials which achieve an ‘A’ rating in the Green Guide to Specification, where at least: 80% of roof specifications achieve an ‘A’ overall rating.
Specifiers are encouraged to consider these issues at the earliest opportunity to maximise their chances of achieving a high BREEAM rating.
When considering materials used in the construction industry it is important not only to consider the raw materials used but also the embodied energy used to create each element in a building. BREEAM does this by rewarding:
- Materials with a low embodied energy i.e. 'A' rated in the Green Guide to Specification
- Buildings where part or all of an existing building is being re-used (i.e. refurbishment projects)
- Responsibly resourced materials
- Use of recycled materials
How can Marley Eternit help?
Credits are available for the specification of A-rated materials in the Green Guide to Specification (3rd edition). We have worked with BRE Certification to generate manufacturer specific Certified Environmental Profiles and Ecopoint ratings for roofing products. All Marley Eternit UK manufactured roofing products achieve an A-rating in the Green Guide:
It is important to note that in the Green Guide to Specification, fibre cement slates achieve a ‘B’ rating. Marley Eternit fibre cement slates are therefore the only product of this kind that can be used to achieve credits in BREEAM. In addition, in the Green Guide to Specification resin slates achieve a ‘C’ rating. Marley Eternit’s Melbourn Interlocking Slate, which achieves an ‘A’ rating, can also be awarded materials credits in BREEAM.
The Green Guides
The Green Guides are books written by the BRE that enable the reader to assess the environmental performance of construction specifications, ranging from external walls, roofs and landscaping to internal elements. Green Guides categorise each specification by giving it an A, B or C rating. An 'A' rating means the least environmental impact, where a 'C' rating represents the worst or highest level of impact.
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