Breeam Alliance to drive international sustainability standards

BRE Global has created a new Breeam Sustainability Alliance in a bid to improve the sustainability of buildings throughout Europe and beyond. The body was set up in response to demand from industry partners, developers and Green Building Councils, the organisation said in a press release.

The Alliance aims to develop and promote common rating tools for the environmental assessment of buildings across Europe; to influence the direction of government and EU policy for sustainable buildings and engage leading stakeholders; to share knowledge and advance the understanding of genuine sustainability through events, training, conferences and publications; to fund sustainability research.

It will be supported by a focused and dedicated secretariat which will have offices based in Brussels, London and other European cities. Carol Atkinson, Chief Executive of BRE Global, said: 'The creation of the Alliance accelerates the development of a single rating tool for Europe. We are responding to industry demand in creating this body and are very committed to bringing about a major change in the way buildings are designed and managed, to provide both environmental benefit and a positive return on investment.'

Breeam is already used extensively throughout Europe. In October last year the Dutch Green Building Council announced that they were adopting Breeam for the Netherlands, and work is underway to adapt the methodology in Ireland, Turkey, Spain, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Iceland.

BRE Global also recently concluded a memorandum of understanding to work with the CSTB in France and is actively working in the Gulf, under a similar agreement with the Emirates Green Building Council.

Over 400 assessors are now trained under the Breeam International scheme, and developers such as AIG/Lincoln, Redevco and the International Council of Shopping Centres are actively using BREEAM on commercial developments in the office, retail and industrial sectors.