BREEAM VS. LEEDTamar Solomon

What are Green Buildings?

“Green or sustainable building is the practice of designing, constructing, operating, maintaining , and removing buildings in ways that conserve natural resources and reduce pollution.”

-Federal Environmental Protection Agency

Why are Green Buildings Important?

• Buildings accounts for:• 39% of greenhouse gas emissions

• 25% of the earth’s water

• 20% of solid waste

• 70% of electricity load in the U.S.

[1]

BREEAM

• Stands for Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method

• The first certification system to assess the sustainability standards of buildings in the world

• Established in the UK in 1990

• Originally used nationally, now used worldwide

• Has the most sustainable certified buildings in the world

UWC Dilijan College

• International school

• Armenia's first BREEAM certified building

• Earthquake resistant

• Green roofs

• Living walls

• Surrounded by National Park of Dilijan

[2]

BREEAM Standards - Residential

• BREEAM EcoHomes

• BREEAM Eco Homes XB (a tool for housing associations and etc.)

• The Code for Sustainable Homes (new single-family homes and apartments in England)

• BREEAM Multi-Residential (student halls for residence, sheltered housing, youth hotels and etc.)

• BREEAM Domestic Refurbishment (refurbishment of existing buildings)

BREEAM Standards - Commercial

• BREEAM Offices

• BREEAM Retail

• BREEAM Industrial (factories and ware-houses)

• BREEAM Educational (schools)

• BREEAM Healthcare (medical facilities)

• BREEAM Courts

• BREEAM Prisons

• BREEAM Other Buildings (any building that is outside the standard categories for example laboratories, hotels, leisure complexes etc.)

Rhinjspoor Building

• Highest BREEAM award for educational building in the Netherlands

• 4 Star Excellent

• Solar aluminum façade

• Intelligent lighting

• Climate control

• Green roof

• Housing for local swallow

[3]

BREEAM Standards - International

• BREEAM Gulf (all building types within the Persian Gulf region)

• BREEAM Europe (selected European countries; office and retail buildings)

• BREEAM Communities (urban planning / development)

• BREEAM International Bespoke (any building type)

• BREEAM In-Use (different existing buildings)

LEED

• Stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design

• The first certification system to assess the sustainability standards of buildings in the US

• Establish in the US in 1998

• Originally used nationally, now used worldwide

• Extends to accrediting professionals

Biodesign Building B- Tempe Campus

[4]• Arizona State University’s research center

• Gold Certification

• LEED’s largest certified research building – 46 points

• Optimal building orientation

• Efficient building systems

• Photovoltaics on site

• Local building materials

• Envelope brings daylight deep into interior

[g]

LEED Standards

•Building Design and Construction

•Interior Design and Construction

•Building Operations and Maintenance

•Neighborhood Development

•Homes

Life Sciences Building -LMU

• Loyola Marymount University

• New building Merit

• Award by SCUP and

• AIA-CAE

• Gold Certification

• Solar renewable Energy

• Green roofs

• Mixed Use (office and

• laboratories)

[5]

Side by Side DifferencesBREEAM LEED

Categories - Management- Health and well-being- Energy- Transport- Water- Materials- Waste- Land use and ecology- Pollution

- Sustainable sites- Water efficiency- Energy and atmosphere- Materials and resources- Indoor environmental quality- Innovation in design

Side by Side DifferencesBREEAM LEED

Ratings - Pass- Good- Very Good- Excellent - Outstanding

- Certified- Silver- Gold- Platinum

Side by Side DifferencesBREEAM LEED

Weaknesses - Cost of compliance- Exact requirements- Complex weighting system

- Relies on US systems- Tedious documentation

required- No independent audits allowed- Combined building form and

function is difficult to analyze

[f]

Side by Side DifferencesBREEAM LEED

Strengths - Accounts for UK legislation and UK culture

- Bespoke version can assess any building

- Independently audited- Allows comparisons of

different buildings

- No training or assessor needed- Plethora of readily available

information - Popular marketing tools

[f]

Sources:

• [a] https://archive.epa.gov/greenbuilding/web/pdf/fedcomm_greenbuild.pdf

• [b] http://www.marble-institute.com/default/assets/File/consumers/historystoneingreenbuilding.pdf

• [c] http://www.wncgbc.org/about/importance-of-green-building

• [d] http://www.eesi.org/files/climate.pdf

• [e] https://www.researchgate.net/publication/261079555_LEED_and_BREEAM_Comparison_between_policies_assessment_criteria_and_calculation_methods

• [f] https://www.bsria.co.uk/news/article/breeam-or-leed-strengths-and-weaknesses-of-the-two-main-environmental-assessment-methods/

• [g] https://asunow.asu.edu/content/asus-newest-research-building-achieves-leed-gold-certification

Picture Sources

• [1] - https://www.sigearth.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Fossil-Fuels-Pie-Chart.png

• [2] http://inhabitat.com/armenias-first-breeam-certified-building-is-an-earthquake-resistant-international-school/

• [3] http://inhabitat.com/rhijnspoor-building-given-highest-breeam-award-for-an-educational-building-in-the-netherlands/

• [4] https://asunow.asu.edu/sites/default/files/bio-b_leed_copy.jpg

• [5] http://inhabitat.com/immense-drought-tolerant-green-roof-provides-valuable-teaching-tool-in-thirsty-california/