On Friday 23rd March 2018, the BREEAM UK New Construction 2014 scheme will close for registration and usher in the new era of BREEAM UK New Construction 2018.
Released on the 7th March, this new scheme looks to upgrade on BREEAM UK NC 2014, to improve the clarity of the technical manual for all users and give an added focus to the building’s life cycle in an overall more concise manner.
We have reviewed the new manual and below are a few of the major developments made by the BRE in BREEAM UK New Construction 2018:
Post-Occupancy Stage (POS)
The biggest development is the introduction of a new Post-Occupancy Stage, an optional third stage. This assists in assuring that the design performance targets are being monitored and reported to identify any deficiencies in performance and where required rectify; focusing primarily on the Energy and Water categories.
MAN 03 Responsible Construction Practices
Previously, this awarded two credits if a developer adopted a Considerate Constructor’s Scheme and achieved a score >35.
BREEAM UK New Construction 2018 has replaced this requirement with a checklist of 19 responsible construction management items of their own, although many of these can be covered by undertaking a compliant CCS.
Updating on the BREEAM NC 2014 manual, there is now a requirement not just to monitor energy use, water consumption and transportation data on site, but to also to set performance targets.
Transport 01/02
The Transport Category has had a complete facelift. Four credits have now been compacted into two; the first is awarded by producing a Travel Plan, which has had its own criteria update and the second has become an amalgamation of all the previous Transport credits from BREEAM NC 2014. A selection of 11 transport measures are provided, with credits awarded based on how many are implemented on site.
ENE 01 Reduction of Energy Use and Carbon Emissions
Previously the energy performance ratio (EPRNC) section of this awarded 12 credits, rewarding reduction in building energy use. However, this has now been reduced to 9 credits with a reduction in the size of the benchmark scale, whilst keeping the EPRNC score minimum standards for overall BREEAM ratings. This change has been introduced to encourage the uptake of the 4 new credits to encourages additional modelling and reporting energy consumption data.
MAT 01 Environmental Impacts from Construction Products – Building Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)
The major change in Mat01 is the removal of the Green Guide ratings, in its place is the BRE’s Life Cycle Assessment tool. This tool now includes the ranges of elemental descriptions previously found in the Green Guide, and will ultimately calculate the credits awarded.
Another option is the IMPACT Compliant LCA tool, which has a similar process but is integrated into BIM or IES software.
Furthermore, the BREEAM UK NC 2014, hard landscaping and insulation credits have been encompassed into the Mat01 assessment.
If you require any other guidance on the new 2018 manual or wish to speak to us regarding any potential projects that may incorporate BREEAM NC 2018, please do not hesitate to contact us.
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