Barry Holdsworth - Garden Design

Code for sustainable homes and BREEAM

The consultancy has experience of designing landscape schemes that meet the strict standards devised by Building Research Establishment’s Environmental Assessment Method.

 

By integrating elements of this voluntary Code into new homes and obtaining assessments against the Code, developers are able to obtain a ‘star rating’ for any new home which will reflect its environmental performance.

 

The Code is designed to help tackle climate change, resource use and impact on wildlife and balance these issues against the need to provide safe and healthy homes and a high quality of life. it also helps reduce the environmental impact of a development through good design and informed decisions in areas including ecology and land use.

 

BREEAM provides clients, developers, designers and others with

  • market recognition for low environmental impact buildings
  • assurance that best environmental practice is incorporated into a building
  • inspiration to find innovative solutions that minimise the environmental impact
  • a benchmark that is higher than regulation
  • a tool to help reduce running costs, improve working and living environments
  • a standard that demonstrates progress towards corporate and organisational environmental objectives

BREEAM addresses wide-ranging environmental and sustainability issues and enables developers and designers to prove the environmental credentials of their buildings to planners and clients. It:

  • uses a straightforward scoring system that is transparent, easy to understand and supported by evidence-based research
  • has a positive influence on the design, construction and management of buildings
  • sets and maintains a robust technical standard with rigorous quality assurance and certification