Voluntary standards

A selection of tools and standards applicable to you and your organisation in assessing the sustainability and / or environmental impacts of your buildings are summarised in the table below.

Table: Voluntary tools and guidance that can be used to address sustainability issues in the built estate

Address environmental/ energy/fuel poverty issues	Address all sustainability issues (including wider issues such as land-use and transport)
SAP is the Government's recommended system for energy rating of dwellings. The Standard Assessment Procedure is used for calculating the SAP rating, on a scale from 1 to 120, based on the annual energy costs for space and water heating calculating the Carbon Index, on a scale of 0.0 to 10.0, based on the annual CO2 emissions associated with space and water heating.	BREEAM is the Building Research Establishments evaluation tool that can be used (ideally) at the design stage and following development. Ecohomes is the equivalent for houses. Trained BRE assessors undertake building surveys to rate performance on measures such as materials used and the amount or embedded energy within them; efficiency of lighting and heating (including utilisation of natural lighting and ventilation); power generation and use of renewables and micro-renewables (e.g. solar PV, Solar thermal, geothermal); it also looks at issues such as land use. E.g. physical access issues and flooding and grey water recycling.
	Whole life costing for a building aims to avoid focusing on short term cost savings at the expense of longer term benefits. Good environmental practice usually goes hand in hand with good economic practice. Measures to reduce the consumption of energy and water not only benefit the environment by reducing emissions and conserving resources, but will also result in substantial financial cost savings over the lifetime of the building. The cost of energy and water are likely to rise significantly faster than Retail Price Index over the coming decades as resources become scarcer and environmental controls on utility companies increase. Cost savings that might seem marginal at today's prices could well increase considerably as these price rises come into effect throughout the life of the building
The Green Guide to Specification (BRE) is a publication providing guidance for specifiers, designers and their clients on the relative environmental impacts of over 250 elemental specifications for roofs, walls, floors etc.	OMSH House builders Toolkit has been created by WWF, sponsored by asset manager Insight Investment, to provide clear guidance for house builders seeking to address a wide range of sustainability issues. The toolkit, compiled by Upstream tackles a variety of concerns including climate change, community involvement, the sustainable use of materials, and waste. It is available free of charge.
	The Regional Sustainable Development Framework is used to highlight the economic, environmental and social impacts of policies, development proposals and other new initiatives within the region (s) and provide information which can help to improve them from a sustainability perspective. It can be used as the basis of an appraisal framework for a Strategic Environmental Assessment/Sustainability Appraisal which are increasingly being used for large and small developments
	Sustainability Appraisal/Strategic Environmental Assessments are increasingly used to appraise the wide sustainability issues of developments at the design stage (e.g. master plans; and housing development) and provide useful recommendations and mitigation ideas to incorporate into the final design, for example access issues (such as ensuring there is good access by sustainable modes of transport) ;land use flooding issues (such as use of SUDS); energy issues (for example exploring integration of micro renewables into design; ensuring all houses are built to at least Ecohomes 'very good'; ensuring building materials have low embedded energy) etc
	Environmental Impact Assessment processes could be used more informally in improving the sustainability performance of developments (see comments made above for Sustainability Appraisals and Strategic Environmental Assessment.
Part L (1 and 2) of Building Regs The revisions to Part L set maximum carbon dioxide emissions for whole buildings. The regulations will apply both to the construction of new buildings and renovation of existing buildings (with a total surface area over 1,000m²). For new buildings, it is anticipated that Part L will reduce carbon emissions by 25% from 2002 standards which already reduced emissions by 15%. The net reduction of 40% from pre2002 is often used as an indicator of improvement	Considerate Constructor's Scheme this is a scheme developer's on which developers can register to demonstrate their consideration for local neighbourhoods and the environment and therefore contributes to a wide range of sustainability issues, for example, it encourages developers to use and procure resources wisely; reduce pollution associated with construction activities; limit noise and visual impact associated with construction; it also contributes towards the social dimension of sustainable development for example, it urges developers to respect neighbours; and to observe safety.
	Sustainable design and construction: Guidance for planners on preparing development plan policies at the local and regional levels. (Sustainable Homes forum).
envest2 is the new improved version of BRE’s tool for environmental impact and whole life costs analysis for buildings.	Sustainability Works is an online software package. It is specifically designed to help housing professionals and their partners deliver sustainable development efficiently, from policy level to project delivery.
RETScreen Project analysis software is effective and free Canadian software. It can be used worldwide to evaluate the energy production and savings, lifecycle costs, emission reductions, financial viability and risk for various types of energy efficient and renewable energy technologies (RETs).	Life cycle analysis looks at the environmental impacts of a product throughout all stages of its production; use and disposal.

The most widely adopted voluntary standard within buildings design and management is the Building Research Establishment’s family of BREEAM (BRE Energy Assessment Model) tools (external website). These set stringent standards to which the energy and environmental performance of new or existing buildings is rated by trained BRE assessors. Excellent is the highest score, although all new builds (mainly over 1000 m2 ) should at the very least aim for a very good rating where there are explicit reasons for this. For new buildings, BREEAM should be considered from the building’s outset design stage.