Manufacturing Facility/ Engineering East BREEAM Information
Introduction – what is BREEAM?
BREEAM is one of the world’s leading environmental assessment methods for buildings and communities. It
is run by an organisation called the BRE – the Building Research Establishment group.
The BRE was created in the 1920’s by the then Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR) to
investigate various building materials and methods of construction suitable for use in housing following the
First World War.
The BRE was completely privatised in 1997, but in order to retain the authority and independence from any
commercial pressures, the Foundation for the Built Environment (FBE) was formed to ‘own’ the BRE. In
2005 this was renamed the BRE Trust. For further information on the BRE Trust please refer to their website
www.bre.co.uk
BREEAM Certification allows a building to be assessed and scored against a set of predefined criteria.
Depending on the score achieved, the building will be rated as either ‘Pass’, ‘Good’, ‘Very Good’, ‘Excellent’
and ‘Outstanding’. The predefined criteria are sorted into a number of different categories: Energy,
Management, Transport and Environment to name a few.
This paper relates to management credit ‘Management 9: Publication of Building Information’, which
requires that the University publishes either on a website or through an external publication, information
relating to a list of predefined criteria. This list of information can be found below:
Title
Building Information
A basic description of
the project and building
BREEAM Rating and
score
Description
This is a simple description of the
building and its function written
without any technical jargon so that
the building can be simply identified.
Targeting BREEAM ‘Excellent’ 70.0%
BREEAM is the world's foremost
environmental assessment method
and rating system for buildings,
setting the standard for best practice
in sustainable building design,
construction and operation and has
become
one
of
the
most
comprehensive
and
widely
recognised measures of a building's
environmental
performance.
A
BREEAM
assessment
uses
recognised
measures
of
performance, which are set against
established benchmarks, to evaluate
a building’s specification, design,
construction and use. The measures
used represent a broad range of
categories and criteria from energy
to ecology. They include aspects
related to energy and water use, the
internal environment (health and
well-being),
pollution,
transport,
materials, waste, ecology and
management processes.
The key innovative and
low-impact
design
features of the building
A
number
of
sustainable
measures
have
been
implemented
across
site
including
the
use
of
responsibly source materials
and recycled aggregate. The
College
of
Business
and
Economics benefits for antisun glazing which reduces
the
solar
gain
into
the
building
and
therefore
reduced
the
energy
requirement
for
building
cooling and conditioning.
SU / Aecom
Basic Building Cost
Significant items of the building
design and construction that are
seen to meet with BREEAMs targets
of setting the standard for best
practice in sustainability.
This figure represents the cost of the
building fabric. It does not include
items such as the furniture, fixtures
and fittings, or design costs, and is
the basic cost of delivering what is
essentially and empty building.
Services Costs
SU / Aecom
This figure represents the element of
the basic building cost that is spent
on the services within the building.
By services it is referring to any
power, ventilation (and or air
conditioning) plumbing and other
similar elements.
External Works
SU / Aecom
This cost represents the basic
building cost spent on delivering the
works around the building such as
landscaping roads and pathways.
Gross floor area
Gross floor area is the total floor area
contained
within
the
building
measured to the external face of the
external walls, adding together each
level in the building.
Total area of site
This is the total site area of the
Swansea University Bay Campus.
The building is located within this site
area.
Function
areas
2
their size [m ]
and
The building is split into a number of
zones or sections; this outlines the
area of each of the zones. .
2
This is the area of circulation space
around the building; this circulation
space is area that cannot be utilised
as research / study or office space.
Area of circulation [m ]
2
This is the sum of the various
storage rooms provided within the
schedule of accommodation (- a list
of areas of the building and their
function).
Area of storage [m ]
% area of grounds
to
be used by
community
Predicted
electricity
consumption
Predicted fossil fuel
consumption
Predicted renewable
energy generation –
2
kWh/m

An educational facility is to be
provided within the Bay Campus,
known as Oracle II. The area has
been designed to be used as an
outdoor
classroom/pavilion
2
measuring approximately 48m
21.4 kWh/m2
28.2 kWh/m2
19.kWh/m2
BREEAM assessments not only
look at the environmental aspects
of the project but also the socioeconomic benefits of sustainability.
This highlights any space that
benefits not only the project, but
also the local community.
The electricity consumption for the
building once it is in operation, is
calculated by the electrical engineer
for the building and is based on any
known energy demand plus best
practice and operational conditions.
This is an estimate at the design
stage but is used as a bench mark
once the building is operational and
actual figures can be collated.
This is the total use of fossil fuels in
the building once it becomes
operational. This figure includes any
gas or other fossil fuel use in
powering any aspect of the building
infrastructure.
This figure is the amount of energy
that all on site renewable energy
generators produce. In this case the
energy
comes
from
solar
photovoltaic panels.
Predicted water use
5.48m3/person/year
The estimate of water demand from
the building per person using the
building per annum. This includes
every part of water use from drinking
water to toilet flushing plus that used
in heating boilers and other such
plant.
Percentage predicted
water use to be
provided by rainwater
or grey water
N/A
The estimate of any rainwater or
grey water that is collected by the
project then reused in the building.
All waste streams are minimised and
segregated on site.
BREEAM assessments cover all
aspects of the project from design to
operation and include construction.
These points highlight measures
The steps taken during
the construction
All timber is responsibly sourced and
process to reduce
environmental impacts,
i.e. innovative
construction
management
techniques
strict procurement policy supports this.
Site team members are named
champions of ecology and waste issues
ensuring that site works follow Vinci
environmental policy and there is a clear
chain to manage any environmental
issues.
taken by the contractor to deliver
sustainability
through
the
construction stage.
Vinci as a company and on site level
continually improve performance, by
setting
progressive
environmental
objectives and targets for energy, water
use and greenhouse gas emission
reductions.
A list of any social or
economically
sustainable measures
achieved/piloted
An educational facility is to be provided
on the Bay Campus, known as Oracle II.
The area has been designed to be used
as
an
outdoor
classroom/pavilion
measuring approximately 8m x 6m. The
area will be a doorway to the natural
world for children, university staff, visiting
businesses and community member in
three forms: as a setting for lectures and
group discussions, as an opportunity for
hands –on engagement with natural
elements, and as a setting for relaxation
and restoration.
This highlights any key, innovative
and low-impact sustainable design
features of the project.