Southwest Environmental Limited

Sector Specific BREEAM Methodologies

A school or a hospital is different to a house. That is why BREEAM has several methodologies for different types of project. For example there are numerous walling systems that one can use when building a house that are not applicable when building a hospital.

Energy use of the building during it operational life span will also be different. A school does not use a great deal of hot water per pupil, but a hospital will use considerably more, as lots of people need to washed for example. The different BREEAM methodologies take these differences in to account , and make sure that sustainability features are apt for the type of project they are incorporated.

For example "Building fabric performance and avoidance of air infiltration" is not assessed under BREEAM for Offices, but it is is BREEAM for education.

Below is comparison of measures considered when assessing Transport;

Offices

Accessibility is assessed on distance from "nodes" of public transport (this is the same for schools) but office worker travel times are considered for example people come and go from offices all day, but at schools they leave in one go at the end of the day (simplified obviously).

School

Special Considerations Such as: Where there is a dedicated bus service to and from the school at the beginning and end of the school day, one credit can be awarded regardless of the building’s public transport Accessibility Index.