03. Responsible sourcing of materials – Above Green

Minimum standards. (4 credits available)

Aim

To recognise and encourage the specification and procurement of responsibly sourced materials for key materials used in refurbishment and fit-out.

Assessment criteria

The following is required to demonstrate compliance:

Prerequisite

All timber and timber-based products used on the project are Legally harvested and traded timber.

Note: For other construction products there are no prerequisite requirements at this stage.

One credit - Sustainable procurement plan

A sustainable procurement plan has been developed. by the principal contractor no later than RIBA Stage 2

Materials for the project are sourced in accordance with the documented sustainable procurement plan.

The plan must be communicated to all relevant internal and external personnel and be included within project specific contractual arrangements .

Up to three credits - Responsible sourcing of materials (RSM)

One credit can be awarded where at least three of the material types listed in material categories has been responsibly sourced from one of the responsible sourcing schemes recognised by BREEAM as detailed in Guidance Note 18

Up to three of the available RSM credits (refer to Table 51) can be awarded where the applicable building materials (refer to Table 52) are responsibly sourced in accordance with the BREEAM methodology, as defined in steps 1 to 2 in the Mat 03 Responsible sourcing of materials (RSM)

Table 51: The number of BREEAM credits achieved is determined as follows

RSM credits	% of available RSM points achieved
3	≥ 54
2	≥ 36
1	≥ 18

Exemplary level criteria

The following outlines the exemplary level criteria to achieve one innovation credit for this BREEAM issue:

Where at least 70% of the available RSM points are achieved

Checklists and tables

None.

Compliance notes

Ref	Terms	Description
Applicable assessment criteria
CN1	Parts 1, 2, 3 and 4	All criteria in this issue are applicable.
General
CN2	Sustainable procurement plan See criterion 2	For design stage assessments where the principal contractor has not yet been appointed, a specification or a letter of intent from the party responsible for appointing the principal contractor must be provided confirming a requirement for the principal contractor to adhere to the documented sustainable procurement plan. Refer to 4.0 The BREEAM evidential requirements section for more guidance on providing letters of commitment.
CN2.1	BREEAM recognised responsible sourcing certification schemes (RSCS) and their point scores. See criterion 6 .	Guidance Note 18 available in the responsible sourcing section of the BREEAM website , provides a table of RSCSs recognised under BREEAM, their scope and associated point scores. This table is reviewed on a regular basis and BREEAM Assessors must ensure they use the current table.
CN2.2	Checking responsible sourcing claims. See criterion 6 .	Confirmation of manufacturers' and suppliers' claims should be sought from the relevant responsible sourcing scheme provider. Many of the organisations who administer RSM certification schemes will, via their website, list companies and products that have been certified against their standards, including the scope of any such certification. Some schemes, including BES 6001 via www.greenbooklive.com, will provide downloadable copies of the relevant certificate, which can in turn be used as evidence of compliance for this BREEAM issue.
CN2.3	Specified reused materials. See criterion 6 .	Where reused materials are specified for the project, these can be allocated ten points.
CN2.4	Specified recycled materials See criterion 5 .	Where evidence can be provided that certified products used in the building contain a high proportion (≥ 90%) repurposed or recycled content , these can be allocated points as per Table -1 in Guidance Note. See notes under Table 1 in Guidance note 18.
CN2.5	Route 1 Cut-off See step 1 in the Methodology section.	Any construction product in the following location or use categories (see Table 52) which clearly accounts for less than the following volumes can be excluded from the assessment. The volume considered should be taken as the construction product's overall external dimensions, including any internal voids and air spaces. Minor fixings (brackets, nails, screws etc.), adhesives, seals and ironmongery would normally fall below this threshold. Also, see CN2.7. 'Internal partition and internal walls (including finishes)': Less than 0.33 m³ per 1000m² of gross internal floor area (GIFA). 'Ceiling (including ceiling finishes)': Less than 0.33 m³ per 1000m² of GIFA. All other location or use categories: Less than 1m³ per 1000 m² of GIFA.
CN2.6	Broken chain	To recognise responsible sourcing certification where it does exist in the supply chain, while reducing the risks associated with a broken chain, it is permissible to use the upstream certification score in the BREEAM International Mat 03 tool where the downstream risk to responsible sourcing is considered to be low. Specifically, it is acceptable for the following types of organisations in the supply chain (that are downstream of the organisation with certification) not to have their own responsible sourcing certification: Organisations that only handle or transport, OR Organisations that only fabricate, assemble or install and are using a recognised quality management system to ensure the mixing and substitution of the certified upstream source with uncertified sources has not occurred AND Are operating in a jurisdiction that can demonstrate relatively robust and well enforced environmental, social and economic controls. For example: States which are members of the EU States that have declared adherence to the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises.
CN2.7	Quantities precision	The degree of tolerance accepted for estimating quantities is ± 20% of the final installed quantity. It is not necessary for the assessor to submit calculations in order to justify estimates. In particular, the cut-off estimation for many construction products (that are clearly below the cut-off) may be done without the need for any calculations at all.

Methodology

There are two routes to demonstrating compliance with this issue. Either of the routes or a combination may be followed for any situation:

Route 1 is intended for use in the majority of situations where detailed information on quantities of materials is not readily available.
Route 2 is intended for situations where a more detailed analysis is possible due to the availability of sufficient detail on material quantities and associated supply chains.
Route 3 (a combination of routes 1 and 2) is intended for situations where details on material quantities are only available for some of the materials.

Route 1: Lowest RSCS point score

The following steps outline the methodology to be followed for this route to determine the number of credits achieved for responsible sourcing. The calculations outlined below are undertaken using the BREEAM Mat 03 calculator and the relevant project information, collated by the project team.

Step 1: Confirm the presence of 'Location and use categories' and materials

Identify items in Table 52

Note: The most appropriate category for each particular material type must be selected. Where none of the categories are appropriate, use 'other'.

Products made up of constituent materials (such as windows, doors, etc.) must be broken down into constituent materials and assessed separately following the category allocation process described above. As before, any material that falls below the cut-off threshold (see CN2.5 should be excluded from the assessment.

Table 52Location, use and material categories

Location, use and material categories
External wall (e.g. bricks, blocks) External wall finishes (plastering, cladding, render, internal dry lining, wall coverings etc.) Insulation Roof (structure) Roof finishes (e.g. tiles, cladding systems, etc.) Upper floors (mezzanines) Floor (structure) Flooring finishes (including coatings) Internal partitions or internal walls (structure) Internal partitions or internal walls (finishes, wall coverings) Ceiling (structure) Ceiling finishes (including coatings) External or internal doors and windows Staircases or ramps Fittings (shop fittings, railings, screens, gutters, vents, air grilles) Furniture (desks, chairs, display cabinets, shelving) Building services (equipment, distribution systems) Hard landscaping Other.
Material categories
Timber or timber-based products (TBP) Concrete or cementitious (plaster, mortar, screed etc.) Metal Stone or aggregate Clay-based (pavers, blocks, bricks) Gypsum Glass Plastic, polymer, resin, paint, chemicals and bituminous Animal fibre or skin, cellulose fibre Other.

Step 2: Confirm the RSCS point score achieved for each applicable material

For each material type identified as applicable in step 1, determine whether or not it is covered by a BREEAM recognised Responsible Sourcing Certification Scheme certificate (see Additional information section).

Refer to Guidance Note 18 available in the Responsible sourcing section of the BREEAM website for the most up to date list of BREEAM recognised Responsible Sourcing Certification Schemes, their scope and corresponding point score.

Note:

The RSCS point score is determined based on the rigour of responsible sourcing demonstrated by the suppliers or manufacturers of that material through the use of recognised RSCSs.
At the time of writing this document most of the RSCS l listed in the guidance note GN18 can be applied globally.
Country specific RSCS operators that wish to be recognised under BREEAM can apply and will need to be evaluated against the BREEAM RSM evaluation criteria to allocate associated point score. For more information review ' Criteria for the evaluation of RSC within BREEAM' document and other associated documents available in the Responsible sourcing section of the BREEAM website.

Step 3: Point allocation and award of credits

The data entered in steps 1 and 2 is used by the BREEAM Mat 03 tool to calculate the number of RSM points achieved and award credits accordingly. This award of credits is determined as follows:

For materials that have been given the same material category (Timber or timber-based product has been used to illustrate), the tool:

First finds the average RSCS point score for Timber or timber-based products that have the same 'location and use' category. This is repeated for every 'location and use' category present,
Then selects the location and use category with the lowest average RSM point score,

The above process is repeated for each material category. The results for all material categories are summed and the difference between the total and the maximum total possible expressed as a percentage. The percentage is then converted to a credit score according to the Table 51

Table 53Example calculation for route 1

Location/ use category	Material category	RSCS point score	Average point score*	RSM point score allocation**
Door/ window	Timber or timber-based product 1	4	5	4
Door/ window	Timber or timber-based product 2	6	5
Floor	Timber or timber-based product 1	3	4
Floor	Timber or timber-based product 2	5	4
External wall	Timber or timber-based product 1	6	6.5
External wall	Timber or timber-based product 2	7	6.5
Door/ window	Metal product 1	5	5	2
Ceiling	Metal product 1	3	2.5
Ceiling	Metal product 2	2	2.5
Structure primary and secondary	Concrete or cementitious product 1	3	2	2
	Concrete or cementitious product 2	2
	Concrete or cementitious product 3	1
Internal partition	Concrete or cementitious product 1	4	5.5
Internal partition	Concrete or cementitious product 2	7	5.5
Structure primary and secondary	Clay-based product 1	3	4	4
Structure primary and secondary	Clay-based product 2	5	4
Roof	Clay-based product 1	8	8

* Average point scores for a given material in that location/use category.

** The point score allocation is the lowest point score, rounded, in the previous column, for a given material category.

Table 54Example point allocation and award of credits

Material category	Point scores achieved	Maximum point score	% available points achieved	Credits achieved
Timber/ timber-based product	4	10	30%	1
Metal	2	10
Concrete/ cementitious	2	10
Clay-based	4	10
Total score	12	40

Route 2: Proportion of materials responsibly sourced

This route allows for a more detailed calculation of the responsibly sourced materials in a building where information on material quantities are available. It follows a similar methodology to that set out for route 1 above but allows for a detailed calculation, based on the relative quantity of each material to weight the point scores, thus influencing the final result. Following route 2 leads to a more accurate final result and typically leads to a higher score. The required calculations are performed by the Mat 03 Calculator tool.

The example in Table 55 illustrates the calculation for a single material category (timber or timber-based products (TBP)). This process is repeated for each material category present in the building to determine the final RSM score.

Table 55: Example calculation for single material category

Material category	RSCS point score	Quantity (m³ , L, Kg)	Point score weighted	Max. point score	% total score
	(A)	(B)	(C)	(D)	(G)
Door/ window
Timber/ TBP 1	4	100	400	1000
Timber/ TBP 2	6	50	300	500
Total Scores			(E)700	(F)1500	46.7%
Floor
Timber/ TBP 1	3	100	300	1000
Timber/ TBP 2	5	200	1000	2000
Total Scores			(E)1300	(F)3000	43.3%
External wall
Timber/ TBP 1	6	300	1800	3000
Timber/ TBP 2	7	200	1400	2000
Total Scores			(E)3200	(F)5000	64%
Average % total score (H)					51.3%
RSM score (I)					5.13

Description of columns shown in the example

Responsible sourcing certification scheme (RSCS) point score achieved, A

Quantity (m³ , Kg), B

Point score weighted by quantity, C = responsible sourcing certification scheme (RSCS) point score achieved x quantity

C = A x B

Maximum point score weighted by quantity, D = 10 x quantity

D = 10 x B

Total score achieved, E = sum of point scores weighted by quantity

E = sum of C scores

Total maximum score, F = sum of maximum scores weighted by quantity

F = sum of D scores

Total score achieved, G = sum of point scores weighted by quantity/ sum of maximum scores weighted by quantity

G = E/ F

Average percentage, H = average of total scores achieved

H = average of G scores

RSM score achieved, I =10 x average percentage

I =10 x H

Route 3: Combination of routes

In Table 56, route 2 has been used to calculate the points for timber/ timber-based products. For all other materials present, route 1 has been used to allocate points. The figures shown have been taken from the relevant tables under route 1 and 2 example calculations provided above.

Note: Only one route can be selected per material category.

Table 56 Example credit calculation for where a combination of routes are used

Material category	RSCS point score	Maximum point score	Percentage of available points	Credits achieved
Timber/ timber-based product (using route 2)	5.13	10	32.83%	1
Metal (using route 1)	2	10
Concrete/ cementitious (using route 1)	2	10
Clay-based (using route 1)	4	10
Total score	13.13	40

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	Completed copy of the Mat 03 Calculator tool.	As per interim design stage.
All	Documentary evidence detailing how the Calculator tool has been completed.	As per interim design stage.

Additional information

Relevant definitions

BREEAM International Mat 03 calculator

A calculator tool used by the BREEAM Assessor to determine the number of BREEAM credits achieved for BREEAM issue Mat 03.

BREEAM recognised responsible sourcing certification schemes (RSCSs)

These are third party schemes evaluated by BRE Global for recognition under BREEAM. Refer to Guidance Note 18 available in the Responsible sourcing section of the BREEAM website for information on the evaluation criteria and the process for the evaluation and acceptance of schemes, including application and appeals.

Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES)

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of wild fauna and flora (CITES) works by subjecting international trade in specimens of selected species to certain controls. All import, export, re-export and introduction from the sea of species covered by the Convention has to be authorised through a licensing system. Each Party to the Convention must designate one or more Management Authorities in charge of administering that licensing system and one or more scientific authorities to advise them on the effects of trade on the status of the species. The species covered by CITES are listed in three appendices, according to the degree of protection they need.

Appendix I includes species threatened with extinction. Trade in specimens of these species is permitted only in exceptional circumstances.
Appendix II includes species not necessarily threatened with extinction, but in which trade must be controlled in order to avoid utilisation incompatible with their survival.
Appendix III contains species that are protected in at least one country, which has asked other CITES Parties for assistance in controlling the trade.

Appendices I and II of the CITES list illustrate species of timber that are protected outright. Appendix III of the CITES list illustrates species that are protected in at least one country. If a timber species used in the project is on Appendix III it can be included as part of the assessment as long as the timber is not obtained from the country or countries seeking to protect this species.

Legally harvested and traded timber

Legally harvested timber and wood-derived products are those that originate from a forest where the following criteria are met:

The forest owner or manager holds legal use rights to the forest
There is compliance by both the forest management organisation and any contractors with local and national legal criteria including those relevant to:
1. Forest management
2. Environment
3. Labour and welfare
4. Health and safety
5. Other parties’ tenure and use rights
6. All relevant royalties and taxes are paid.
There is full compliance with the criteria of CITES.

Legally traded means timber or products derived from Legally harvested timber were:

Exported in compliance with exporting country laws governing the export of timber and timber products, including payment of any export taxes, duties or levies
Imported in compliance with importing country laws governing the import of timber and timber products, including payment of any import taxes, duties or levies
Traded in compliance with legislation related to the convention on international trade in endangered species (CITES), where applicable.

Responsible sourcing

The management and implementation of sustainable development principles in the provision, procurement and traceability of construction materials and components. In BREEAM, this is demonstrated through auditable third party certification schemes. Refer to Guidance Note 18 available in the Responsible sourcing section of the BREEAM website for an up-to-date table of RSCSs recognised by BRE Global Ltd for the purposes of a BREEAM assessment.

Reused materials

Materials that can be extracted from the waste stream and used again without further processing, or with only minor processing, that does not alter the nature of the material (e.g. cleaning, cutting, fixing to other materials).

Recycled material

Materials diverted from the pre-consumer or post-consumer waste streams that require significant processing before they can be used again. For further information please see Calculating and declaring recycled content in construction products, 'Rules of Thumb' Guide (WRAP, 2008) www.wrap.org.uk.

Sustainable procurement plan

A plan that sets out a clear framework for the responsible sourcing of materials to guide procurement throughout a project and by all involved in the specification and procurement of construction materials. The plan may be prepared and adopted at an organisational level or be site or project specific and for the purposes of BREEAM compliance, will cover the following as a minimum:

Risks and opportunities are identified against a broad range of social, environmental and economic issues. BS 8903:2010 1 Principles and framework for procuring sustainably - guide can be used as a guide to identify these issues.
Aims, objectives and targets to guide sustainable procurement activities.
The strategic assessment of sustainably sourced materials available locally and nationally. There should be a policy to procure materials locally where possible.
Procedures are in place to check and verify that the sustainable procurement plan is being implemented or adhered to on individual projects. These could include setting out measurement criteria, methodology and performance indicators to assess progress and demonstrate success.

Responsible sourcing certification scheme point scores

A graded scale to reflect the rigour of the certification scheme used to demonstrate responsible sourcing, forming the basis for awarding credits in the BREEAM issue Mat 03. Refer to Guidance Note 18 available in the Responsible sourcing section of the BREEAM website for an up-to-date table of RSCSs recognised by BRE Global Ltd for the purposes of a BREEAM assessment.

Other information