Page 29 - CFJ_Apr26

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

BREEAM NEW CONSTRUCTION v7

AND ITS IMPACT ON OUR INDUSTRY

BREEAM New Construction v7 shifts focus to whole-building sustainability,
embodied carbon, and healthier, longer-lasting designs, says Richard Aylen

©MAGDA EHLERS PEXELS
E’VE been talking about sustainable the sustainability of their buildings and the the perspective of the people who use
Wbuilding design for many years, and need to do so is fast becoming mandatory it, by inclusion of indoor air quality and
for the construction industry as a whole as government and large corporate clients daylighting.
we have focused largely upon operational are realising the benefits. When designing a building the architect
carbon levels, i.e. energy use, design of This time around I want to talk about will often employ a BREEAM assessor;
HVAC systems, thermal insulation and the one of those schemes because it has a person who has expertise in BREEAM
like. This is because these are the areas recently been updated and is perhaps one standards and how to apply them to the
where the biggest gains can be made. But of the most widely adopted sustainability specific building that is being designed.
this strategy has now matured, and the accreditation schemes in the UK and abroad. There are several levels of BREEAM
opportunities for significant gains in this I’m referring here to BREEAM (the accreditation with the higher levels being
area are fewer due to the advent of new Building Research Environmental awarded to projects with the lowest
technology and building regulations that Assessment Method), which was environmental impact.
make greater energy efficiency the norm. introduced in 1990. Under this scheme I think it’s fair to say that in the past, in
In order to achieve further improvements clients can achieve different levels common with other assessment methods,
in sustainable building design we need to of accreditation, depending upon the the focus upon embodied carbon by
focus upon other aspects of sustainability sustainability of the project. As a flooring BREEAM has not been very strong, but
including indoor air quality, water, health, manufacturer or installer, if you are with changing approaches to sustainability
use of natural daylight and measuring working in the non-residential sector, it is they now need to embrace this subject.
embodied carbon. For anyone new to likely that at some point in time you will As a result, in September 2025 they
the term, embodied carbon is the carbon be asked to provide information or adopt updated their assessment criteria in the
that is contained in the materials that the certain practices because the building is form of BREEAM New Construction v 7, for
building itself is made from. This is largely being BREEAM assessed. new buildings. A version for refurbishment
the reason behind the increased interest in What follows is a broad description of and adaptations is expected to follow at
using recycled aggregates and reducing the what BREEAM aims to do and an outline some point in the future.
amount of concrete in buildings. of the main changes that have just been The new version of BREEAM introduces
As most readers will know, these issues implemented. assessment criteria that are more
affect the UK flooring industry as much BREEAM encompasses a wide range measurable than in previous versions,
as they affect other construction-related of topics including energy use and requiring the use of established
sectors. Designers of buildings, and their sustainability of materials. It is also used benchmarks along with gaining credits
clients have various ways of measuring to assess the quality of the building from for exceeding requirements of the current 

www.contractflooringjournal.co.uk 29
@CFJMagazine CFJ April 2026