What is the Land Use & Ecology section of the BREEAM certification and how to achieve a good score
The BREEAM certification is one of the leading international standards for assessing the sustainability of buildings, which, among various aspects, evaluates the interaction between a building and its surrounding natural environment through the environmental category Land Use & Ecology. Below, we delve into the BREEAM certification, what the Land Use & Ecology section is, and our support for achieving a good score.
What is BREEAM?
BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method) is the world's leading suite of validation and certification systems for sustainable buildings. It includes six technical standards that apply to the different phases of a building's or project's life cycle: here we will focus on the BREEAM In-Use International standard. BREEAM In-Use provides a framework that allows for the measurement and improvement of the performance of already occupied buildings, providing support for benchmarking, assurance, and validation of operational data related to assets. The assessment process is divided into two parts, certified independently: Asset Performance - assessment of the environmental and operational performance of the building Management Performance - analysis of management and maintenance processes. The environmental categories considered in the two assessment areas are: Based on the total score obtained in the form of credits for each environmental category, the building receives an overall rating of "Pass", "Good", "Very Good", "Excellent", "Outstanding".
What is the Land Use & Ecology section and how much is it worth?
The Land Use & Ecology environmental category of BREEAM In-Use International aims to promote greater awareness of how to enhance the ecological value of an asset or site and the impact that the operation of the asset can have on that value. The goal is to establish long-term strategies that facilitate improvement in this area. Specifically, this category is structured into 5 subsections: This section is not marginal for achieving a good overall score, in fact, Land Use & Ecology corresponds to just under 10% of the total credits of the BREEAM assessment. The importance of this category is due to the need to conserve and enhance biodiversity and the natural environment, in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal No. 15 ("Life on Land"), which aims to integrate ecosystem and biodiversity values into national and local planning and development processes. Landscape management can have a significant impact on the surrounding environment and, if implemented appropriately, can positively influence the ecological value of the site.
XNatura's support in achieving a good score
Thanks to our monitoring platform, we can streamline data collection to quickly respond to some of the BREEAM criteria. In particular, in the Asset Performance assessment, we respond to: Resilience (RSL): Land Use and Ecology (LUE): The data collected on the platform that meets the above criteria can be downloaded in the form of an automated report and used for BREEAM certification. Regarding the Management Performance assessment, thanks to the platform and the support of our Nature Experts, we respond to: Land Use and Ecology (LUE): To meet these criteria, a field survey is required, which our Nature Expert conducts with the Biodiversa app, directly connected to the platform. The output for the Management Performance assessment is a document containing the complete ecological report of the site and a biodiversity plan based on the results of the ecological report.
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XNatura focuses on the digitalization of nature, integrating artificial intelligence, IoT sensors, satellite technologies, and cloud computing. The goal is to collect, process, and analyze environmental data to support companies, public entities, and natural parks in monitoring and managing risks and impacts on nature, biodiversity, and climate change.
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