BREEAM and Code for Sustainable Homes

Durham Wildlife Services advise on pragmatic and innovative steps that may be taken to maximise the ecological gain of your project, without compromising the original design philosophy.

The Code for Sustainable Homes

In April 2007 the Code for Sustainable Homes (the Code) replaced EcoHomes for the assessment of new housing in England. The Code, based closely upon EcoHomes, offers credits for steps taken to the ecological credentials of a project.  Durham Wildlife Services are able to provide a Suitably Qualified Ecologist to undertake an ecological assessment of your project focused on maximising the credits that can be obtained within the ‘Ecology' category of the Code . Under the Code credits are available if it can be shown that:

• The project will only develop on land of low ecological value
• Features of ecological benefit have been designed into the scheme
• Existing features of ecological value are protected during site preparation and construction works
• The change in the site's ecological value has been assessed

In order to allow yourself the widest scope for obtaining credits in the ‘Ecology' category, a Suitably Qualified Ecologist should be consulted at an early stage in the scheme to advise on areas of ecological value to be avoided. In addition, minor changes to the development plans at an early stage can allow integrated, cost effective ecological mitigation to be woven into the proposed design with multi-faceted benefits for both the development and wildlife on site.

BREEAM Assessments

BREEAM (Building Research Establishment's Environmental Assessment Method) is the world's leading and most widely used environmental assessment method for buildings. The environmental performance of developments being measured by their ability to attain Credits within ten Categories. These credits are then added together to produce a single overall score on a scale of Pass, Good, Very Good, Excellent and Outstanding.

The Land Use and Ecology Category accounts for 10% of the total credits available within a BREEAM Assessment, with the performance of a project in this Category, potentially dictating the final rating achieved. With funding frequently tied to a project's ability to attain a set BREEAM rating, money spent on ecological survey and guidance often pays itself off time and again.

In order to allow yourself the widest scope for obtaining credits in the ‘Ecology' category, a Suitably Qualified Ecologist should be consulted at an early stage in the scheme to advise on areas of ecological value to be avoided. In addition, minor changes to the development plans at an early stage can allow integrated, cost effective ecological mitigation to be woven into the proposed design with multi-faceted benefits for both the development and wildlife on site.

Ecologists at Durham Wildlife Services have extensive experience and the capability to work on the full range of BREEAM buildings, such as Education, Multi-Residential and Offices systems.