How BREEAM In-Use differs from a standard BREEAM

How is BREEAM In-Use different to BREEAM?

1 The process

In BREEAM a trained Assessor carries out the assessment and BRE certify it. In BREEAM In-Use however is a self assessment scheme - so anyone can do the assessment and a BIU Auditor (trained by BRE) certifies the assessment.

2 Benchmarking standards

In BREEAM, it is the final rating (good, excellent etc) that is often used to provide a benchmark on the performance of that building. This is reasonable as the criteria in BREEAM are generally specific and thus provides a level playing field across all buildings. With BREEAM In-Use, for the first time we will be able to provide detailed benchmarking on individual aspects of building performance. Each question in the questionnaire will provide answers across a range of buildings and benchmark industry standards for that issue.

3 Work towards a particular rating

In BREEAM clients often aim to achieve a particular rating and employ an assessor to help them do this. While this is still possible in BREEAM In-Use, the real power of the scheme initially lies in enabling clients to gain an appraisal of their own building's current performance and highlight areas where improvements can be made. Setting an arbitrary high target rating to achieve, however noble, may not always be realistic for the building you are in (eg a very old, un-insulated one)

As the BREEAM In-Use database becomes populated, detailed benchmarks will be available for the first time. This will allow comparisons with other buildings not simply in terms of the overall rating but on individual questions. These comparisons will also be much fairer and informative than ever before as they can take into account other factors such as type, age and location of the building.