A new year – a new sustainability checklist…
::via Green Building Press
The EA (Environment Agency) have published a guide for developers (pdf, 90 pages):
The EA guide concentrates on issues outside the building – from the building envelope to the site boundary. It has more than a passing resemblance to BREEAM with issues broken down in very similar categories.
| EA | BREEAM |
| Managing the risk of flooding | Pollution |
| Managing surface water | Pollution |
| Using water wisely | Water |
| Wildlife and green space | Ecology |
| Preventing pollution | Pollution |
| Managing waste | Pollution |
| Land affected by contamination | Pollution |
| Sustainable construction | Management, Health and wellbeing, Transport, Energy Use, Materials |
| Recreation, society and health | Health and wellbeing |
I would recommend it to those of us who have come to sustainability via the buildings route rather than an environmental engineering route (seems to be the main two camps I have come across in the land of BREEAM).
One question arises as a result of this – are we in danger of getting bogged down by all this guidance or is the cumulative effect a good one? I can think of at least 3 other checklists or guidance documents which cover similar ground. Of course by covering similar issues in slightly different ways, the probability of implementation might increase, as what resonates with one person or team may be alien to another.
Other checklists which might be of interest:
- Constructing Excellence Sustainability Checklists
- OGC (Office of Government Commerce) Procurement Guide 11 Sustainability (pdf, 29 pages)
- TCPA (Town and Country Planning Association) Sustainable Energy by Design (pdf, 52 pages)
Know of any others? Please feel free to leave a comment or email me and I’ll update this list.
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