Doc No: SD5065A Scheme Document Revision 1.1 No: Certification Scheme for BREEAM Communities: Date: 24 May 2012 Statutory Planning (Developer Application) Stage Page: 1 of 21 1 Introduction Government is challenging local authorities, developers and project teams to ensure that all new developments and regeneration projects are designed and built sustainably, creating places where people want to live and work, in ways which address environmental, social and economic issues. What is required is a measured and balanced response to the impact of climate change, appropriate stimulus to promote economic growth and the overall wellbeing of proposed communities within the built environment at an early planning stage of the development process. 2 The Scheme BES5065 – BREEAM Communities (BfC) has been produced to enable planners and developers to determine whether the environmental, social and economic sustainability objectives of a development project have been addressed at the following stages; § the outline (preliminary) planning stage of the applicable developer planning application process – Interim Certificate (Optional) § and / or § the detailed (final) planning stage of the applicable developer planning application process – Final Certificate (Mandatory) 3 The Framework BREEAM Communities and the sustainable development framework provides stakeholders with a structure and process capable of delivering sustainable developments that help secure the wellbeing of society, the environment and the economy. The first phase of the framework has been development with a focus on the statutory planning (developer application) stage of the development process. The framework will be developed to include follow-up assessment stages, such as post-construction review and post-occupancy evaluation. Below is an outline on the structure of the sustainable development framework and the stages that need to be followed in the process, through the use of compliant assessment methodologies and the creation of a compliant assessment framework, to achieve certification against the BREEAM Communities standard. For further details see Appendix 4 – BRE’s Sustainable Development Framework. 4 The Scope This section of the scheme document outlines the overall scope of BREEAM Communities and the type of development projects that it can be applied to. BREEAM Communities Uncontrolled copy if printed. Printed on: 24/05/2012 16:18:39 © BRE Global Ltd 2012 Valid on day of printing only. Doc No: SD5065A Scheme Document Revision 1.1 No: Certification Scheme for BREEAM Communities: Date: 24 May 2012 Statutory Planning (Developer Application) Stage Page: 2 of 21 ensures that environmental, social and economic sustainability issues have been addressed through the following assessment categories: § climate and energy – addresses built form mitigation and adaptation issues; § place shaping – addresses local area design and layout; § community – addresses consultation processes and local community involvement; § ecology – addresses protection of the ecological value of the site; § transport – addresses sustainable transport options; § resources – addresses sustainable use of resources; § business – addresses local and regional economic issues; § buildings – addresses overall sustainability performance of buildings. BREEAM Communities is relevant to all domestic, non-domestic and mixed use development projects seeking planning permission. Its primary purpose is to enable planning authorities to confirm whether developers seeking planning permission have met these sustainability targets set by the local planning authority. It is can be used in conjunction with key sustainability land-use assessment processes – including, but not limited to; Sustainability Appraisals (SAs), Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) and Strategic Environmental Assessments (SEAs). 4.1 Type of Development Projects A BREEAM Communities assessment can be carried out for the following types of proposed development projects: 4.1.1 Type of Units § Domestic § Mixed Use § Non-Domestic 4.1.2 Type of Land-Use § New developments – greenfield; brownfield and infill projects § Major regeneration projects § Other projects (contact BRE Global for confirmation – [email protected] ) 4.2 Size of Developments Projects § Small 2 to 9 units (subject to regional and location requirements) § Medium 10 to 499 units (subject to regional and location requirements) § Large – up to 5999 units (subject to regional and location requirements) § Bespoke – 6000 units and greater Note: Above this size the creation of a bespoke assessment framework and certification standard based on the core principles of BREEAM Communities is required. Uncontrolled copy if printed. Printed on: 24/05/2012 16:18:39 © BRE Global Ltd 2012 Valid on day of printing only. Doc No: SD5065A Scheme Document Revision 1.1 No: Certification Scheme for BREEAM Communities: Date: 24 May 2012 Statutory Planning (Developer Application) Stage Page: 3 of 21 5 The Structure BREEAM Communities is structured to ensure that it can be aligned to address the applicable national, regional and local sustainability objectives as part of the developer planning application process. The structure of the framework contains environmental, social and economic sustainability objectives that are linked to core planning policy requirements to guide and support the delivery of national, regional and local policy targets. The structure enables the use of ‘compliant assessment methodologies’ to develop specific sustainability targets for a proposed development project, which can be independently certified against the BREEAM Communities standard by an appropriately qualified BREEAM Communities Assessor. Assessment and certification is carried out as follows - for further details see Appendix 3 – scoring categories and star performance: Certification Stage Stage of Assessment Outline (preliminary) planning stage assessment for Interim Certificate (Optional) the developer planning application process as set out in the Operational Manual. Detailed (final) planning stage assessment for the developer planning application process as set out in the Operational Manual – through: Final Certificate (Mandatory) § review of the interim assessment; or § final assessment at this stage; The detailed or final planning stage assessment, and subsequent Final Certification, must be completed and submitted as part of the final planning application for the proposed development project. Certification against the Standard does not guarantee that the submitted planning application and supporting document will be approved by the local planning authority. Certification is only valid for the period in which planning permission has been granted. If the planning permission for a specific proposed development site expires, or changes, the associated Certificate will become void. 6 The Standard BREEAM Communities is an independent, third party assessment and certification standard based on the established BREEAM model. It captures core sustainability objectives outlined in the regional sustainability checklists and covers environmental, social and economic planning issues that have an impact on proposed development projects in the built environment. Uncontrolled copy if printed. Printed on: 24/05/2012 16:18:39 © BRE Global Ltd 2012 Valid on day of printing only. Doc No: SD5065A Scheme Document Revision 1.1 No: Certification Scheme for BREEAM Communities: Date: 24 May 2012 Statutory Planning (Developer Application) Stage Page: 4 of 21 BREEAM Communities provides a common framework that enables a specific development planning application to demonstrate it has; § committed to addressing the sustainability objectives outlined in the applicable planning system; and § committed to addressing the sustainability objectives for a specific development project. The assessment criteria, within BREEAM Communities, which all assessments must address, are outlined Appendix 6 – Table 1 Categories and Assessment Criteria (taken from BES5065). The detailed process requirements, performance levels and weightings must be developed and agreed on by the local planning authority, the development team and the BREEAM Communities Assessor prior to the assessment being conducted. BREEAM Communities does not certify a ‘community’, but the planning application, its masterplan and supporting documentation for which planning permission is sought. Certification against the BREEAM Communities standard does not guarantee that the developer’s planning application will be approved by the local planning authority. 7 The Process The formal process used by the sustainable development framework allows the developer, subject to agreement by the local planning authority, to select the most appropriate compliant assessment methodology to assist in the creation of a compliant assessment framework. The framework provides the core foundation from which specific sustainability objectives and relevant planning requirements are established, which can then be used to measure the performance of the proposed development against the BREEAM Communities standard. For further information about BREEAM Communities please visit www.breeam.org/communities 7.1 Compliant Assessment Methodologies Compliant assessment methodologies address the specific economic, environmental and social sustainability issues and policy requirements of a proposed development. The use of compliant assessment methodologies help facilitate the negotiation between planners and developers from