Assessment Methods - Evaluating Sustainable Development in the Built Environment - page 112

scheme. Other design stage schemes have been launched for super-
markets, new houses, light industrial buildings and others.
The scheme embraces a large range of environmental issues grouped
under three main headings:

(1) Global issues , which include CO 2 emissions resulting from energy

use, acid rain, ozone depletion due to chlorofluorocarbons/
HCFCs, natural resources and recyclable materials, storage of
recyclable materials and designing for longevity.

(2) Local issues , which include transport and cyclists' facilities, water

economy, noise, local wind effects, overshadowing of other build-
ings and land, reuse of derelict/contaminated land and ecological
value of the site.

(3) Indoor issues , which include hazardous materials, natural lighting,

artificial lighting, thermal comfort and overheating and ventilation.

Issues receive individual, discrete credits. A credit signifies that the
design satisfies the criteria for the issue concerned but there is no attempt
at weighting the diverse issues. A summary of the performance is
included; this is expressed as a single rating of 'fair', 'good', 'very good'
or 'excellent', based on a minimum level of credits achieved in each of
the three classes of environmental issues. This rating is simply a measure
of the balance of the design approach across the three classes. A rating of
'excellent' indicates a high standard of performance across the range of
impacts, although there may still be scope for further refinement.
Similar schemes to BREEAM are LEED™ in USA, HQE by the CSTB
(Centre scientifique et technique du bâtiment) in France and SBTool,
formerly known as GBTool, as an international project. The latter is the
software implementation of the Green Building Challenge (GBC)
assessment method that has been under development since 1996. The
GBC process was launched by Natural Resources Canada, but respon-
sibility was handed over to the International Initiative for a Sustainable
Built Environment (iiSBE) in 2002.
The BREEAM standard is now being exported to regions such as the
Gulf (BREEAM Gulf) and Europe. On June 2009, it was announced
that the BRE had signed a Memorandum of Understanding to work
together with the French CSTB and its subsidiary CertiVéA to develop
a pan-European building environmental assessment method. The
CSTB are one of the organisations behind the French Haute Qualité
Environnementale (High Environmental Quality) standard, which has
similarities to BREEAM. It is hoped that this will eventually result in
the development and promotion of a common assessment method
throughout the European Union, aligned with the work of the interna-
tional Sustainable Building Alliance, a network whose overall objective
is to develop common metrics for the key issues and allow compari-
sons between the different rating schemes.