BREEAM sets the standard for best practice in sustainable building design, construction and operation. In the UK, the consensus view of a sustainable building has now become one which achieves a high BREEAM rating.
Setting the scene
Sustainability is high on today’s construction agenda and owners and developers are not only specifying buildings with the highest environmental and sustainability credentials, but are increasingly asking suppliers to prove that their products have been responsibly sourced.
The Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) was introduced in 1990 by BRE. BREEAM sets the standard for best practice in sustainable building design, construction and operation. In the UK, the consensus view of a sustainable building has now become one which achieves a high BREEAM rating.
BES 6001 – The Framework Standard for Responsible Sourcing
More recently, the BRE has developed BES 6001, to allow construction product manufacturers to demonstrate their commitment to sustainability through a certification process which provides a holistic approach to assessing a product from the point at which the component materials are mined, through to manufacture.
BES 6001 has already achieved a high level of recognition in the construction industry and provides the gold standard for Responsible Sourcing Certification Schemes (RSCS) in the UK. It has been linked to BREEAM and a process has been developed by which the use of BES 6001 certified products makes it much easier to achieve the three credits that are available in BREEAM for responsible sourcing of materials. Within BREEAM, these are known as the MAT 3 credits.
How does BES 6001 interact with BREEAM responsible sourcing credits?
A major plus for developers and builders is that products sourced from a company that holds BES 6001 certification provides, at no extra cost, a route to obtaining the maximum number of responsible sourcing credits within BREEAM.
Within BREEAM, structural metals and cladding metals are two of ten building and hard landscaping materials deemed to be part of the MAT 3 credits assessment. For each material, a ‘Tier’ level is allocated within BREEAM . The tier rank is determined based on the rigour of responsible sourcing demonstrated by the supplier or manufacturer of that material or element (through responsible sourcing certification schemes).
BES 6001 certification ensures a high ranking on this, and makes it much easier to achieve the three credits. The tier rank then acts as a multiplier in a calculation. The total points available are the sum of the number of applicable materials multiplied by a number associated with the tier ranking. The total number of points is then compared to the data in a credit allocation table and the appropriate number of credits is awarded.
How can Tata Steel help?
Tata Steel has achieved BES 6001 ‘Very Good’ certification for almost all its construction products. Certification to BES 6001 provides independent evidence of Tata Steel’s corporate responsibility and helps our customers to manage and reduce the impacts throughout the supply chain.
For more information on Tata Steel products covered by our certification please click here
To download BES 6001 Framework standard for responsible sourcing of construction products visit http://www.greenbooklive.com/filelibrary/responsible_sourcing/BES-6001-Issue-3-Final.pdf
For more background information visit http://www.bre.co.uk/page.jsp?id=1514