12/9/2014

BRE Global has completed a detailed review of responsible sourcing certification (RSC) schemes, and published a list of those that are now recognised and can lead to credit awards in BREEAM.

The responsible sourcing of materials is an increasingly important element of sustainable construction, encompassing resource stewardship, corporate responsibility and sustainable procurement issues throughout the supply chain.

“Since the mid-1990s, BREEAM has supported responsible sourcing by awarding credits for good practice” says Alan Yates, Technical Director, Sustainability at BRE Global. “Our approach to this has evolved in line with changes that have improved responsible procurement practices in the materials sector. The review of RSC schemes is the latest step in this continuing evolution, and was conducted in recognition of the growing number and widening scope of these schemes in recent years.”

The RSC scheme review has provided, for the first time, a way of comparing the different schemes against a common set of criteria (adopted from BS 8092*), whilst recognising the inevitable variations that occur among different material supply chains.

As a result, all RSC schemes meeting a common set of minimum requirements – based on current best practice and consultation with the materials sector and scheme operators – are now recognised in the 2014 BREEAM schemes for New Construction and for Refurbishment and Fit-Out. These changes will be rolled out across other BREEAM schemes over the next few months.

“The review has produced a fair and balanced set of criteria against which all schemes can be evaluated and compared regardless of their sector,” says Yates. “We have now issued the list of recognised schemes and will soon publish the full evaluation process and results, including scheme submissions and evidence, to ensure that the process is fully transparent.

“We will continue working with the materials sector to further refine this approach, enabling future versions of BREEAM to differentiate between RSC schemes in terms of their scope and their ability to promote continual improvement.”

The list of BREEAM responsible sourcing certification schemes recognised in BREEAM is available here.

* BS 8902 Responsible Sourcing Sector Certification Schemes for Construction Products: Specification (BSI, 2009).

ENDS

Press enquiries: Linda McKeown, BRE, Tel +44 (0)1923 664569, email mckeownl@bre.co.uk

Editor's Notes

1. BREEAM is the internationally recognised measure of sustainability for buildings and communities. Over 425,000 certificates have been issued under BREEAM on more than 24,000 projects around the world and 1.9 million buildings and communities are registered for certification. BREEAM helps to drive the sustainable performance and value of a property asset and developments as a whole, and the scheme is developed across Europe through a family of National Scheme Operators including BREEAM UK, NL, DE, ES, SE and NOR. Internationally BREEAM is used in more than 60 countries. More information at www.breeam.com.
2. BRE Global (incorporating BREEAM and LPCB) is an independent third party approvals body offering certification of fire, security and sustainability products and services to an international market. BRE Global mission is to ‘Protect People, Property and the Planet' and is a trading subsidiary of the BRE Trust, the registered research and education charity which owns the BRE Group. More information at www.breglobal.com.

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