01. Environmental impact of materials – Above Green

(6 credits available)

Aim

To reward projects where materials have been selected to reduce their life cycle environmental impacts through the use of robust life cycle environmental assessment tools and robust environmental data.

Assessment criteria

This issue is broken down into:

Option 1: Project life cycle assessment study (6 credits)OR
Option 2: Elemental assessment of environmental performance information (4 credits)

The following is required to demonstrate compliance:

Up to six credits (option 1): Project life cycle assessment study

The project uses a life cycle assessment (LCA) tool or undertakes a building information model life cycle assessment (BIM LCA) to measure the life cycle environmental impact of the refurbishment or fit-out works.

The LCA covers new materials as relevant to the assessment parts listed in CN1.4 and indicated in the 'Materials assessment scope' section of the BREEAM International Refurbishment and Fit-out Mat 01 calculator (Part B of the tool).

The mandatory requirements identified in the 'Materials assessment tool, method and data' section of the BREEAM International Refurbishment and Fit-out Mat 01 calculator have been met.

A member of the project team completes the BREEAM International Refurbishment and Fit-out Mat 01 calculator using parts A and B and determines a score based on the robustness of the LCA tool used (Part A of the tool) and the scope of the assessment in terms of the materials specified that have been considered (Part B of the tool)

Where the design team can demonstrate how the LCA has benefited the building in terms of measuring and reducing its environmental impact. See CN1.11

Where the design team submit the LCA tool output (e.g. Building Information Model (BIM)) for assessing the building to BRE Global (via the project's appointed BREEAM Assessor) to inform future potential LCA benchmarking for BREEAM

Credits are awarded in accordance with Table 46

Table 46 Percentage of BREEAM Mat 01 calculator points achieved and credits awarded (Option 1)

Percentage of BREEAM Mat 01 calculator points achieved (%) (Option 1)	Credits
	Industrial	All other buildings
10	1	1
30	1	2
50	1	3
65	2	4
75	2	5
80	2	6
85	2 + 1 exemplary	6 + 1 exemplary

Up to four credits (option 2): Elemental assessment of environmental performance information

The following are required to demonstrate compliance:

Robust environmental performance information has been collected for newly specified materials or where materials are retained in situ, for elements listed in CN1.4

The total number of points achieved as set out in the Methodology section are calculated using Part B of the BREEAM Mat 01 calculator. The number of points scored is based on the percentage of each element that has been:

9.a

reused in situ

9.b

reused in situ with minor repairs

9.c

specified with robust environmental performance information.

Credits are awarded based upon the percentage of available points achieved as set out in Table 47

Table 47 Percentage of BREEAM Mat 01 calculator points achieved and credits awarded (Option 2)

Percentage of BREEAM Mat 01 calculator points achieved (%) (Option 2)	Credits
	Industrial	All other buildings
10	1	1
40	1	2
60	1	3
75	1	4
85	1 + 1 exemplary	4 + 1 exemplary

Checklists and tables

Five points are available for each element depending upon the percentage of each element that is reused in situ or has compliant environmental claims. See the Methodology section in order to calculate the point score per element. Details of compliant environmental claims are detailed below in Table 48

Table 48 Allocation of points awarded

Type of claim	Compliant environmental claim	Points:
Environmental product declaration	Where at least one product per element type has a third party certificated environmental product declaration that conforms to one of the following standards: ISO 15804 Type 3 EPD ISO 14025 Type 3 EPD ISO 14024 Type 1 EPD.	5
Self declared recycled content	Where newly specified materials have recycled content to ISO 14021 that meets good practice levels of recycled content set out in Choosing construction products, Guide to the recycled content of mainstream construction products, WRAP or an equivalent nationally recognised standard that defines the minimum recycled content of construction products	5
Reused in situ	Where a whole element or part of an element has been reused in situ and confirmation has been provided that the element complies with current statutory requirements and is fit for purpose (i.e. a minimum design life of at least 5 years)	5
Reused in situ with minor repairs	Where the whole or part of an element has been reused in situ with minor repairs (see Relevant definitions).	5

Compliance notes

Ref	Terms	Description
Applicable assessment criteria
CN1	Part 1: Fabric and structure	All assessment criteria are applicable
CN1.1	Part 2: Core services	All assessment criteria are applicable
CN1.2	Part 3: Local services	All assessment criteria are applicable
CN1.3	Part 4: Interior design	All assessment criteria are applicable
General
CN1.4	Relevant elements	Part 1 includes elements of the fabric and structure including: External walls (envelope, structure and finishes) External windows and roof lights Structural frame Basements or retaining walls (including excavations) Upper floors (including horizontal structure) Roof (including coverings) Stairs External solar shading devices, access structures etc. Ground or lowest floor Part 2 and 3 includes elements used for core and local services including: Heat source, space heating, air-conditioning and ventilation Communication, security and control systems Electrical installations Fire and lightning protection Lift and conveyor installations or systems Water and waste installations Sanitary installations Part 4 includes interior fit-out elements including: Internal floor finishes (including access floors) Internal ceiling finishes (including suspended or access ceilings) Internal walls and partitions Internal wall finishes Internal windows Internal doors Furniture (desks, chairs, display cabinets, shelving) Fittings (shop fittings, railings, screens, gutters, vents, air grilles) Hard landscaping and boundary protection are included where within scope of works.
CN1.5	Element not present	In most projects, not all elements listed in CN7 will be present. This does not affect the credits available as this issue is assessed based upon the percentage of available points that have been achieved. The percentage of available points is adjusted in the Mat 01 Calculator tool in order to reflect the number of elements present.
CN1.6	Partial reuse	Where part of an element has been reused in situ (e.g. the ceiling grid is retained in situ, but new ceiling tiles are specified) the points should be determined based upon the percentage of the element being reused in situ (see Methodology section).
CN1.7	Scoring of the materials assessment tool method and data section	All tools (and versions of tools) used for option 1 must: Meet the mandatory requirements outlined in BREEAM Refurbishment and Fit-out Mat 01 LCA calculator. Have the score generated by the BREEAM International Refurbishment and Fit-out Mat 01 calculator and verified by BRE Global. Please note that the verification process will require the involvement and issue of evidence by the tool producer or developer. Please see the list of previously submitted tools (by version) and their associated verified score on the BREEAM Extranet or complete the BREEAM International Refurbishment and Fit-out Mat01 calculator and issue to BRE for verification when required.
CN1.8	Measuring performance	This issue is concerned with the use of LCA on the project and for the collection of robust environmental information from product manufacturers. At present, we do not seek to benchmark performance due to the limited availability of benchmarking data. This is likely to be included as LCA data matures and BRE Global have collected sufficient building performance data to establish robust benchmarks.
CN1.9	Scope of BREEAM Refurbishment and Fit-out Mat 01 LCA calculator	The Mat 01 LCA calculator scores points for option 1 based on the rigour of the life cycle assessment in terms of: The quality of the assessment tool or method and data The scope (of specified materials) included in the assessment.
CN1.10	Previously approved LCA tools	All LCA tools must be verified by BRE Global to assess their robustness. This verification will result in a score that reflects this robustness and can be input into the Mat 01 calculator tool. All previously verified LCA tools are listed on the BREEAM Extranet along with the resultant score. Where appropriate, these verified results can be entered into the Mat 01 calculator for other projects and used as part of the assessment evidence; however the scope will need to reviewed to ensure this reflects the specific scope of the LCA for the project being assessed.
CN1.11	Demonstrating benefit	This should take the form of a short qualitative statement from the design team providing comments on the following: How and at what stages of the design the tool was utilised. How the tool helped (or did not help) steer the design process to optimise cost and mitigate environmental impacts, giving examples of specific changes to the building design or specification that resulted.
CN1.12	Repairs to existing in situ elements	Materials used to repair existing in situ elements may be excluded provided no more than 20% of the total area; or volume of the existing element is subject to minor alternations, repair or maintenance.
CN1.13	Material use cut-off for fixings, adhesives, membranes and other minor product uses	Any material type within a relevant element which clearly accounts for less than 0.33 m³ per 1000 m² of gross internal floor area, can be excluded from the assessment. Calculations will not normally be required to justify such exclusions.
CN1.14	Green Guide to Specification	The Green Guide to Specification can be used towards option 1 as a type of LCA tool for the assessment of new elements including external walls, external windows, internal floor finishes, upper floors, internal walls and partitions and roofs. Please refer to the Green Guide tab within the tool and select the elements that have been assessed using the Green Guide to Specification.

Methodology

Option 1: Assessing the points awarded for the project life cycle assessment study

Under option 1, points are awarded using the Mat 01 calculator according to the robustness and scope of the life cycle assessment study.

Step 1: Answering the materials assessment tool or method and data questions

The first step is to answer questions using the Mat01 calculator tool on the methodology and data that the life cycle assessment study is based upon. This includes the following aspects:

Output Indicators available, e.g. embodied carbon, embodied water and other indicators
The output Life stages available (for all indicators selected), e.g. cradle-to-gate, cradle-to-grave etc.
Assessment levels looking at the life cycle impact comparisons possible (and made) at either the whole building or elemental level
The source of LCA data quality including the geographic applicability and age
Source of LCA data quality - Methodologies, e.g. have the data been assessed to ISO 14040 and ISO 14044
Has the source LCA data quality been verified, e.g. verified or peer reviewed LCA data AND the majority of EPD used (manufacturer or trade association) are verified to ISO 14025, ISO 21930 or EN 15804.

Step 2: Assessing the materials assessment scope

The second step is to answer questions in the Mat 01 calculator tool on the scope of the assessment to look at the number of elements (as relevant to applicable assessment parts, see CN1.4).

Step 3: Calculating the number of points awarded

The Mat 01 calculator tool will assign points according to the information entered for steps 1 and 2 above regarding the robustness and scope of the LCA study. Up to 70 points are available based upon the robustness of the LCA assessment study. An additional 30 points are available based upon the scope of the LCA assessment study in terms of the number of applicable elements that have been included in the study. The calculator will then determine the percentage of available points awarded and assign the credits awarded in accordance with Table 48

Option 2: Assessing the points awarded for an element

Under option 2, up to 5 points are available per element depending upon the % of that element that is reused in situ and the percentage of newly specified materials that are covered by robust environmental claims recognised as detailed in Table 48

Step 1: Elements present

Identify the relevant elements that are present in the project, as relevant to the BREEAM assessment parts that are being assessed in accordance with CN1.4

Step 2: Identify the percentage reused in situ

The next step is to estimate the percentage of each element that is new and the percentage that is reused in situ. This recognises elements where part of the element has been retained and part of the element is new. Examples of this would be where a proportion of internal walls have been retained with others as new, where an existing element has a significant amount of new materials added to adapt or reinforce it, or where an existing external wall is being refurbished with new internal dry lining or a cladding system. This percentage is an approximate figure to the nearest 25% and is to be provided by the design team. This does not need to be an accurate measurement and can be based on a common sense judgment. It can be based on measured data (for elements where this is relatively straight forward to do so such as the percentage area of new floor finishes or the percentage of new internal doors) or, where there is a more complex mixture of retained and newly specified materials within an element such as the percentage volume of new structural steel within a building, it can be based on an estimated percentage.

Step 3: Calculate the points awarded per element

The next step is to calculate the points awarded per element based upon the percentage of element that is reused in situ and the percentage of new materials that have robust environmental performance information available (see Table 48 Points are allocated according to the matrix set out in Table 49

Table 49 Allocating points for elements

Percentage of element reused in situ	Percentage of newly specified materials with robust environmental performance information
	0	≤ 25%	≤ 50%	≤ 75%	> 75%	100%
	Unweighted Points
≥95%	5	5	5	5	5	5
≥75%	4	4.2	4.4	4.6	4.8	5
≥50%	3	3.4	3.8	4.2	4.6	5
≥25%	2	2.6	3.2	3.8	4.4	5
< 25%	1	1.8	2.6	3.4	4.2	5
0	0	1	2	3	4	5

Step 4: Calculating the percentage of available points achieved

Once the unweighted points awarded for each element present have been calculated, they then need to be multiplied by the weighting for that element type to reflect the relative significance of that element at a whole building level. This is then used to calculate the maximum Mat 01 points available for that element as detailed in Table 50 .

Finally, once the points awarded and maximum available points for each element has been calculated, this is then used to determine the percentage of available points achieved using the MAT 01 calculation tool. This calculation is further detailed in the example in Table 50.

Table 50 Example calculation of the percentage available points achieved

Assessment part	Element description	Weighting (a)	Applicable elements (b) Enter 1 = Yes 0 = No	Maximum Mat 01 points available (c) = (a) x (b) x 5	Unweighted points achieved per element using Table 49	Weighted Points (e) = (a) x (d)
Part 1: Fabric and structure	External walls (envelope, structure and finishes)	1	1	5	3	3
	External windows and roof lights	1	1	5	3	3
	Structural frame (vertical)	1	1	5	5	5
	Basements or retaining walls (including excavations)	0.5	1	2.5	5	2.5
	Upper floors (including horizontal structure)	1	1	5	5	5
	Roof (including coverings)	0.5	1	2.5	3	1.5
	Stairs	0.5	1	2.5	5	2.5
	External shading devices, access structures etc.	0.5	1	2.5	1	0.5
	Ground or lowest floor	0.5	1	2.5	5	2.5
Parts 2 and 3	Heat source, space heating, air-conditioning and ventilation	1	0	0	0	0
	Communication, security and control systems	0.5	0	0	0	0
	Electrical installations	0.5	0	0	0	0
	Fire and lightning protection	0.5	0	0	0	0
	Lift and conveyor installations or systems	0.5	0	0	0	0
	Water and waste installations	0.5	0	0	0	0
	Sanitary installations	0.25	0	0	0	0
Part 4: Interior design	Internal floor finishes (including access floors)	1	0	0	0	0
	Internal ceiling finishes (including. suspended or access ceilings)	0.5	0	0	0	0
	Internal walls and partitions	0.5	0	0	0	0
	Internal walls finishes	0.5	0	0	0	0
	Internal windows	0.5	0	0	0	0
	Internal doors	0.25	0	0	0	0
	Furniture (desks, chairs, display cabinets, shelving)	0.25	0	0	0	0
	Fittings (shop fittings, railings, screens, gutters, vents, air grilles).	0.25	0	0	0	0
Hard landscaping and boundary protection	Hard landscaping (roads, paths and pavings)	0.5	0	0	0	0
Hard landscaping and boundary protection	Boundary protection (fencing, railings and walls)	0.25	0	0	0	0
Maximum available points (f) = Sum (c)			32.5
Total points achieved (g) = Sum (d)			25.5
Percentage of available points achieved (h) = (g)/(f) x 100			78%

Evidence

Ref	Design stage	Post-construction stage
1 –10	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.
1 –10	A copy of the Mat 01 calculator tool	As per interim design stage
6	A copy of the statement demonstrating benefit of the LCA assessment	As per interim design stage
7	LCA tool output	As per interim design stage

Additional information

Relevant definitions

Environmental Product Declaration: BS EN ISO 14025:20101 defines an environmental label or environmental declaration as a claim which indicates the environmental aspects of a product or service. BS EN ISO 14020:20012 goes on to state that environmental labels and declarations provide information about a product or service in terms of its overall environmental character, a specific environmental aspect, or any number of aspects. The BRE's Environmental Profile Methodology and the Green Guide to Specification are both examples of EPDs. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is the tool underpinning EPD and the LCA should conform to the requirements of the BS ISO 14040 series.
Green Guide to Specification: The Green Guide to Specification is an easy to use, comprehensive reference website and electronic tool, providing guidance for specifiers, designers and their clients on the relative environmental impacts for a range of different building elemental specifications. The generic elemental ratings within the online Guide are based on LCA data generated using the BRE Environmental Profiles Methodology. The Environmental Profiles Methodology has been peer reviewed to comply with BS ISO 14040 and represents the Product Category Rules for BRE Global's environmental labelling scheme (EPD - ISO 14025, Type III) for construction products and elements, see www.thegreenguide.org.uk.

Other information

IMPACT (Integrated Material Profile And Costing Tool)

IMPACT is a specification and database for software developers to incorporate into their tools to enable consistent Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Life Cycle Costing (LCC). IMPACT compliant tools work by allowing the user to attribute environmental and cost information to drawn or scheduled items in the BIM. IMPACT takes quantity information from the BIM and multiplies this by environmental impact or cost 'rates' to produce an overall impact and cost for the whole (or a selected part) of the design. The results generated by IMPACT allow the user to:

analyse the design to optimise cost and environmental impacts.
compare whole building results to a suitable benchmark to assess performance, which can be linked to building assessment schemes.

The benefit of BIM enabled whole building assessment is that the calculations are based on real design data and accurate quantities, rather than generic specifications for particular building elements. IMPACT compliant tools also allow users to accurately model the life cycle performance of primary structures and substructures, which are not covered by the Green Guide to Specification.

IMPACT was developed by an industry consortium led by BRE. The work was funded by the UK's Technology Strategy Board. Further information about IMPACT and IMPACT compliant software tools (identified by the IMPACT compliant logo) is available from www.impactwba.com.