It is the protocol for certifying the environmental, economic and social sustainability of buildings devised by the BRE Group-an independent institution dedicated to research and analysis of environmental impacts-and disseminated internationally.
Provides a tool for assessing the environmental performance of buildings and guidance for design, construction, and operation.
The building to be certified is evaluated through an approach that looks at the entire life cycle of the building and the different aspects of construction such as: management, energy use, health and welfare, pollution, transportation, materials, waste management, and land use. It is then framed in a clear scoring system in the categories of "Pass," "Good," "Very good," "Excellent," and "Outstanding."
One of the features that makes BREEAM a versatile tool is that each assessment area has a different weight based on the application context, and a national or local reference standard can be used to demonstrate the required performance. This results in great flexibility, allowing the protocol to be adapted to all countries.
The use of the BREEAM protocol allows a recognized value to be added to a building on which a large design investment has been made.