On Tuesday 3 December, Blake Lapthorn's climate change team hosted a green breakfast seminar. Guest speaker Chris Cousins of BRE Global, talked about sustainable building for a Green future.

1. Protecting People, Property and the Planet
Sustainable building for a green future
Chris Cousins
3 December 2013
Part of the BRE Trust

2. Overview
– Introduction to BRE
– Context, especially
– Importance of sustainable construction
– Standards and/or regulations? – the housing standards review
– Promoting sustainable design and construction through planning
– BREEAM and the Code for Sustainable Homes
– BREEAM Communities

3. Protecting People, Property and the Planet
Introduction to BRE

4. Who we are

5. About BRE
Image : BRE

6. BRE Group: Building a Better World Together
Research based consultancy, testing, certification and training

7. Protecting People, Property and the Planet
Context
Importance of Sustainable Construction

8. Construction industry and buildings
– Construction and demolition waste alone
represents 35% of total UK waste
– the energy used in constructing,
occupying and operating buildings
represents approximately 50% of
greenhouse gas emissions in the UK.

9. Low carbon goods and services in the UK
– 6th largest low carbon goods and services market in world
– Worth over £112 billion
– Employs over 900,000 people
Sources: BIS press release, 4 August 2011; UKTI

10. Low carbon goods and services in UK
– Over 51,000 companies
– Exports £11.3 billion – up 3.9% in 2010/11
– 4,500 new jobs – up 4.3% in 2010/11
– Green Deal alone predicted to trigger £14 billion of
investment to 2022, and support at least 65,000
insulation and construction jobs by 2015
Source: 2011 Annual Energy Statement, DECC 23 November 2011

11. Export markets for sustainable
design and construction
– Chinese vice premier and
delegation visit BRE Innovation
Park, January 2011
– Signing of agreement for the
development of innovation park in
Beijing
– Contracts worth £100million to UK
firms

12. CBI view
– Green’ and growth must be
compatible. In finding a new
growth path for the British
economy I am convinced
‘green’ is a central part of it.
Everybody needs to look at
de-carbonising their products
and services and in that way I
think there is great growth
potential for Britain.
– John Cridland, Director-General of CBI July 2012

13. Source: The business case for Green Building, World Green Building Council, 2012

15. Ministerial support
– “Gone are the days when low-carbon
buildings would be nice to have but
expensive. We have now shown the
smart choice for financial and
environmental reasons is to go green...
– “…it not only makes us feel good that
we are doing the right thing by the
planet but over the last two years the
low-carbon goods and services sector
has accounted for nearly a third of all
growth in the economy and is growing
by around five per cent year on year
when other sectors are struggling.”
Greg Barker, Minister of State for Climate Change, 10 May 2013

16. Political commitment?
– “When I became Prime
Minister I said I wanted
Britain to have the
greenest government ever
and I am as committed to
that today as I was then.
But I want to go further.”
– “…my argument today is
not just about doing what is
right for our planet, but
doing what is right for our
economy too.”
David Cameron, 4 February 2013

17. 21 November 2013

18. The Code for Sustainable Homes and Housing Standards
Review: report of Environmental Audit Committee,
November 2013
An example of the debate on standards and/or regulations

19. The proposals in the Housing Standards Review
“Wind down” the Code for Sustainable Homes
Minimum standards on some issues to be included in Building Regulations
New, limited national standards set – nothing on e.g. materials or ecology
Local planning authorities can specify standards only from national set
Local plans would need to be revised to comply

20. The Committee’s verdict on the Government’s proposals summary
– Local choice replaced by lowest common-denominator national
standard
– 2016 zero carbon homes standard has been significantly diluted
– Latest research on rapidly decreasing cost of renewable energy
technology not considered
– Failure to back green growth and innovation by setting standards for
materials

21. Review – designed to achieve a particular outcome?
– Overall goal of the Housing Standards Review:
– “To significantly rationalise the untenable forest of Codes, Standards,
rules, regulations and guidance that add unnecessary cost and
complexity to the house-building process”
– LGA: “Those terms of reference will take one in a particular direction. If
the terms of reference had been, “How can we build fantastic homes for
the next generation in a way that is viable?”, the outcome might have
looked slightly different”

22. Implications for local planning
– DCLG’s proposed needs test for local authorities wishing to apply
sustainability standards “risks becoming a lawyers’ charter”.
– Conflict with Coalition Agreement to “return decision-making powers on
housing and planning to local councils”

23. Duplication, or useful driver of change?
– “the CSH is a flexible means of delivering sustainability in line with local
circumstances and local choice”
– “the CSH can continue to set a mark for Building Regulations to follow”
– “the single-track approach of simply setting standards in Building
Regulations is undesirable, because it would not include a higher
standard to drive incremental improvements and to measure progress”

24. Regulatory minimum
Number of buildings
CSH
Minimal
Aspirational
Environmental Standards
Level 6
Level 5
Level 4
Level 3
Level 1
Level 2

25. Value of the Code for Sustainable Homes
– “Few seem to disagree that the code for sustainable homes
has played a vital role in driving sustainability issues up the
agenda within house building”
– Not from the EAC report…but from Code for Sustainable Homes Case Studies: Volume 4,
published by DCLG, 20 August 2013 – on the same day as the HSR consultation

26. Protecting People, Property and the Planet
Encouraging sustainable design and construction
through the planning system

27. National Planning Policy Framework
– “The purpose of the planning system is to contribute to the
achievement of sustainable development.” (NPPF para. 6)
“...to achieve sustainable development, economic, social and
environmental gains should be sought jointly and
simultaneously through the planning system” (NPPF para. 8)

28. Local Plan is key
– Statutory duties
– Must contribute to
• achievement of sustainable development [S39 2004 Planning
and Compulsory Purchase Act]
• mitigation of and adaptation to climate change [S19 of P&CP
Act, as amended by S182 of 2008 Planning Act]
• achieving good design [S39 of P&CP Act, as amended by S183 of 2008
Planning Act]

29. NPPF, local choice, and viability
– Greg Clark, in response to a
question in the House of
Commons as to whether or
not “company profits will... be
prioritised above high
environmental standards”
– “No, they will not be.
Nothing that is
unsustainable can override
that fact by using the
viability test. That is for
local plan makers and local
councillors to determine.”
Hansard, 27 March 2012, column1344

30. National Framework
– “To support the move to a
low carbon future, local
planning authorities should...
– when setting any local
requirement for a building’s
sustainability, do so in a
way consistent with the
Government’s zero carbon
buildings policy and adopt
nationally described
standards.”
NPPF Paragraph 95
Image: Farrells

33. Protecting People, Property and the Planet
BREEAM and the Code for Sustainable Homes

34. BREEAM/CSH Aims
– Design sustainability into the building
– Lower social/environmental/economic
impact
– Solutions that last
– Improved energy efficiency, water use,
health and wellbeing, materials,
longevity, management
– Recognise quality design,
procurement and management of the
built environment

35. BREEAM & Code for Sustainable Homes
– Two stage certification process
– Design stage
– Post construction
– Minimum standards

36. BREEAM Principles
– Voluntary, independent assessment and certification
scheme
– Deliver sustainable solutions
– Balanced framework
– Based on sound science
– Deliver value to the occupant

37. Issue Categories
Health & Wellbeing
Management
Transport
(BREEAM only)
Energy
Materials
Water
Waste
Land Use & Ecology
Pollution

38. Environmental Weighting
Category Scores
Scoring

39. BREEAM built environment assessment schemes
Site
selection
Design and
planning
Construction
& postconstruction
Occupation
End of life
Region scale
City scale
Neighbourhood
scale
Building scale
Infrastructure
Communities
Communities
Non Domestic
In-Use
Domestic
Domestic
Refurbishment
Non Domestic
Refurbishment
Demolition

40. Protecting People, Property and the Planet
BREEAM Communities

41. BREEAM Communities: opportunities and costs
opportunity
decision-making
cost
isolated
improvement
integration
opportunity
cost
masterplanning
feasibility
stages
design
construction
occupancy

42. BREEAM Communities is…
– A standard to improve the design of large-scale developments
– An holistic assessment of environmental, social and economic
sustainability
– A framework for collaborating on key masterplanning issues
Image: White Architects and PEAB

43. BREEAM Communities categories
1. Governance
2. Social and economic wellbeing
3. Resources and energy
4. Land use and ecology
5. Transport and movement

44. Who, what and where?
Leading the process
Type of development:
•Local authorities
•New communities
•Developers
•Regeneration
•Communities
•Urban infill
•Urban extensions
Use
•Rural or urban
•Mixed-use
•Housing
Size of development:
•Retail / office
•Not prescribed
•Other
•Depends on impact

45. Integration with the masterplanning process
Final certificate
Step 3
The
Details
Interim certificate
Step 2
The
Layout
Step 1
The
Principle
Images: Farrells

46. Strengthen stakeholder management
Typical stakeholder involvement
process
Stakeholder involvement process
using BREEAM Communities

47. Increase rating in building assessments
Images: Kanozi Arkitekter

48. Case study: Castleward, Derby
•
800 residential units
• Developer: Compendium Living
•
34,500 sq f of commercial
space
• Assessor: HTA Architects
© HTA

49. Make the planning process easier
“We view the assessment
process as cost neutral
because it helps smooth out
the planning process and
demonstrates the high quality
we would be seeking to
achieve regardless.”
Dave Bullock
Managing Director
Compendium Living