04. Maximum car parking capacity – Above Green

(credits building type dependent)

Aim

To encourage change of use projects to consider the provision of car parking in order to promote the use of alternative means of transport other than the private car to and from the building, thereby helping to reduce transport-related emissions and traffic congestion associated with the building's operation.

Assessment criteria

The following is required to demonstrate compliance:

Up to two credits - Car parking capacity

The building's car parking capacity is compared to the maximum car parking capacity benchmarks in Table 39 and the relevant number of credits awarded.
For most building types, except those where stated, the benchmarks vary according to the building's public transport Accessibility Index (AI determined in accordance with BREEAM issue Tra 01 Sustainable transport solutions). Therefore, for these building types the AI must be determined prior to assessing this issue. This is required to ensure that the building’s car parking capacity is relative to the building's accessibility to the public transport network.

Checklists and tables

Table 39: Credits available in Tra04 Maximum car parking capacity for different building types

	Criteria			Credits
Building's Accessibility Index	< 4	≥ 4 - < 8	≥ 8
Building Type	Max. parking capacity 1 space per x building users, where x is:
Office, industrial, student residences and key worker accommodation	3	4	5	1
	4	5	6	2
Sheltered housing, care homes and supported living facility	4	5	6	1
Sheltered housing, care homes and supported living facility	5	6	7	2
University and further education	15	20	25	1
University and further education	20	25	30	2
Hotels and other short-stay accommodation	3	4	5	1
Hotels and other short-stay accommodation	4	5	6	2
Preschool, schools, colleges and retail,	Issue not assessed for these building types

Compliance notes

Ref	Terms	Description
Applicable assessment criteria
CN1	Parts: 1, 2, 3 and 4	This issue is only applicable when the building is undergoing a change of use, as a result of the refurbishment works.
General
CN2	Exclusions	Parking spaces set aside for the following building users can be excluded provided these spaces are dedicated for that use, i.e. sized accordingly with the appropriate signage or markings: Disabled Parent and baby Motorbike Car share. In the case of excluding car share spaces, the future building occupier will need to confirm they have an enforceable car share policy.
CN2.1	Parking shared with other buildings	Where the assessed building forms part of a wider site, e.g. campus, business park, hospital, and parking is not designated to individual buildings, then the assessor has two options: Assess compliance on the basis of parking capacity for the whole development, accounting for all existing and new users and parking spaces Assess compliance using a pro-rata of parking capacity to building users, e.g. if the assessed building is occupied by 20% of the development's total occupants, then attribute 20% of the total parking spaces to the assessed building for the purpose of the assessment.

Methodology

None.

Evidence

Criteria	Interim design stage	Final post-construction stage
All	One or more of the appropriate evidence types listed in 4.0 The BREEAM evidential requirements section can be used to demonstrate compliance with these criteria.
All	Where relevant, a completed copy of Tra 01 calculator confirming the building's Accessibility Index.	As per interim design stage.

Additional information

Relevant definitions

Accessibility Index

Refer to Tra 01 Sustainable transport solutions.

Building users

Where the term building users is referenced in this BREEAM issue it refers to the following, where relevant to the building type:

Staff (who will work within the building)
Students (who will access the building for work or study during a typical academic term time or semester day)
Residents (who will reside permanently or for a short period of time in the building).

If known, or can be reasonably estimated, project specific occupancy figures should be used. If this is not possible, for example where the building is a speculative project, use the default occupancy rates given in Table 40 in the Other information section (below) to determine the number of users. Where the number of building users is variable, provision of parking spaces should be based on the maximum number of building users likely to be using the building at any time during a typical day.

Care homes

For the purpose of BREEAM, care homes are defined as buildings with residential accommodation and meals, and have residents that require a level of personal care such as eating, cleaning and a level of medical care.

Change of use project

A change of use project is where there is a change in the purposes for which, or in the circumstances in which, a building is used. For example where the building becomes a hotel, where previously it was an office or where the building was previously a commercial building and is now a education building etc.

Sheltered housing

Sheltered housing can be defined as self-contained accommodation, usually with an emergency alarm system, communal facilities and a resident warden.

Other information

Table 40Default occupancy rates by building type

Building type and function area	Occupant density (person/m²)	Building type and function area	Occupant density (person/m²)
Business		University and further education
Office area (including reception areas)	0.111	Resident's bedroom	0.120
Food preparation area (staffed)	0.108	Classroom	0.203
Small workshop or category laboratory space	0.068	Food preparation area	0.096
Industrial		Hall, lecture theatre, assembly area	0.202
Food preparation area	0.213	Computer laboratory	0.231
Industrial process area	0.022	Laboratory	0.106
Laboratory	0.107	Laundry	0.105
Reception	0.110	Reception	0.112
Warehouse storage	0.009	Workshop (small-scale)	0.068
Generic office area	0.108	Office and consulting areas	0.098
Care homes		Hotels and other short stay accommodation
Reception	0.152	Bedroom	0.094
Food preparation area	0.161	Food preparation area	0.108
Physiotherapy studio	0.200	Reception	0.105
Bedroom unit	0.105	Generic office area	0.106
Laundry	0.117	Other spaces or buildings
Assembly areas and halls	1.000	Data centre or server room	0.096
Hydrotherapy pool hall	0.100
Office and consulting areas	0.195

Notes for Table 40 of default occupancy rates:

The net floor area for each function must be multiplied by the equivalent occupant density to determine an overall occupancy for the function area.
Not all potential building areas are listed, only those required to reflect estimated building occupancy for the building type. For example, an office building may have a canteen but it will be the staff that predominantly uses the canteen. The office staff numbers will be estimated using the default occupancy rate for the office area; therefore to include the canteen would result in double counting of occupancy.
If a building type is not listed, occupancy rates for a similar building type or function area may be used.
The above occupancy rates have been sourced from the activity database of the UK Simplified Building Energy Model (SBEM).