BREEAM Accredited Professionals and What they Can Do for You

At Varming Consulting Engineers, we have an experienced and knowledgeable Sustainability team who provide expertise as BREEAM Assessors and BREEAM Accredited Professional (AP), but what does it mean to you and your building design project?

Well, being a BREEAM AP is a pretty big deal. As a prerequisite the BREEAM AP is required to have post graduate professional experience working in a role covering the sustainability of the built environment along with relevant professional membership. It’s a qualification that demonstrates that a deep knowledge of the field of environmental and sustainable design, as well as the very highest levels of competency in the process of BREEAM Certification.

What is BREEAM

To put it into context, it is necessary to understand the purpose of BREEAM and what it means to be accredited in it. BREEAM is an internationally recognised method for assessing a building’s environmental performance and the standards set to achieve its accreditation for a building project are known for being particularly stringent.

BREEAM APs and Your Project

Having a BREEAM AP involved with your building project means they can skilfully facilitate effective design and guide it to achieve all of its sustainable design goals.

The key differences between a BREEAM Assessor and a BREEAM AP are that while the assessor is responsible for collecting evidence, monitoring compliance and submitting reports to BRE for quality assurance, the BREEAM AP provides expert advice to the design team throughout the design process to ensure the most sustainable design is achieved along with facilitating the scheduling of activities, negotiating trade-offs and setting priorities.

There is a growing realisation that for both refurbishments and new builds, a high BREEAM rating is an absolute must. It makes business sense to have a building that is efficient to run and that has a small or zero environmental impact. Having a BREEAM AP in your corner, certainly gives you a head start. Not least for the reason that if involved early enough, it grants the project 2 BREEAM credits automatically.

If you would like to learn more about BREEAM and what it can do for your building project, call us now on 01 4872300. Alternatively, you can find out more about everything we do in the field of sustainably designed buildings by visiting our website www.varming.ie.