Spec Finish

Sustainability Building level assessments have been around for decades. They enable the industry to evaluate, measure and benchmark their environmental performances against a number of categories by awarding a rating (good/very good/excellent or gold/platinum) to the buildings at design and post-completion stages. BUILDING SUSTAINABILITY ASSESSMENTS 26 www.thefis.org T HE oldest and most commonly used methodology is BREEAM. Since it was first developed in the 1990s, nearly 600,000 certificates¹ have been issued and 2,300,000 buildings have registered for assessment in 89 countries. LEED, the US equivalent to BREEAM, can also be found in the UK and is equally popular around the world. Both methodologies can be used for various stages of the lifecycle of a building, from new construction to refurbishment, and can be applied to various building types. The SKA rating² scheme is more tailored for the fit-out sector and it provides a list of 100 ‘goodpractice’measures.TheWELLBuilding Standard, on the other hand, concentrates on features of the built environment that impact human health andwellbeing³ and is therefore more focused on the occupier. Occupants at the centre of design An example of a recent WELL certified building includes Cundall’s office in Birmingham, which was awarded the WELL Gold Level. Putting the occupants at the centre of the design brings many benefits, such as the payback in terms of staff retention or reductions in days off sick. TheWELL certification standard is less focused on the building itself, but more about the people inside. Before the pandemic, the interest of the impact of the built environment could already be seen, but the recent months have made the health issue central to the discussion on bringing people back in the office. Staff got used to home comforts and it is becoming evident that the role of the office will change. Some features of WELL which were included in the Birmingham office include: • bringing the occupants closer to their innate link with nature by using plants, soundscaping (they introduced the sound of native bird species) and water walls; • monitoring and improving indoor air quality, including good ventilation; • the careful selection of cleaning products; and • CO 2 and relative humidity levels measurement and management. WELL also encourages better comfort for the occupants as this has been shown to increase productivity and includes: acoustic, thermal, visual (light, glare, contrast of colours, circadian rhythm), ergonomics (adjustable seat height, desk height) and easy movement of occupants. Compatibility The use of such building level assessment is becoming increasingly relevant as the industry becomes more aware of the need to act now to avoid dramatic climate change impact, but also the impact that buildings have one the occupants’ health. The demand for certification is rising rapidly and buildings assessed to such methodologies have seen their value and demand⁴ increase, making them more attractive investments. A report from BRE and Currie & Brown showed that a BREEAM ‘very good’ building will cost less than 0.25%more than a baseline building, but that 40-60% of savings could be made on the energy costs. Buildings can be certified to several schemes. An example includes Cundall’s office in London on One Carter Lane in 2016, which was awarded Gold Level WELL Certification, BREEAM Excellent and SKA Gold ratings at design stage – demonstrating⁵ that health, wellbeing and sustainability are compatible. ¹ www.breeam.com ² www.rics.org/uk/about-rics/responsible-business/ska-rating ³ www.standard.wellcertified.com/well ⁴ https://files.bregroup.com/breeam/briefingpapers/Delivering- Sustainable-Buildings-Savings-and-Payback-Office-Case-Study- BREEAM-NC-2018_BREEAM_BRE_115359_BriefingPaper.pdf ⁵ www.cundall.com/Projects/One-Carter-Lane.aspx Flavie Lowres, FIS Sustainability Champion WELL encourages better comfort for office occupants