Infrastructure - BREEAM Knowledge Base

Minimum standards – Scope out - KBCN1681

Any BREEAM Infrastructure criteria agreed for ‘scope out’ within an assessment are removed from the assessment in their entirety. This applies to criteria marked as a ‘minimum standard’. When seeking to achieve an Outstanding rating, where one or more of the ‘minimum standard’ criteria are scoped out, these no longer contribute to achieving an Outstanding rating. For example, if criterion 7.2.2 is agreed for ‘scope out’, the minimum standard will be based on achieving a score greater than 90% and meeting criteria 2.1.2, 2.1.3, 4.4.1 and 7.4.2.

PAS 2080:2023 – BREEAM Infrastructure - KBCN1628

An updated version of PAS 2080 was released in April 2023 (PAS 2080:2023), superseding the previous version (PAS 2080:2016). The latest version of PAS 2080 may be used in BREEAM Infrastructure assessments in place of the previous version. The equivalent, relevant clauses are given in the table below.

PAS 2080:2016 (original)	PAS 2080:2023 (updated)
Clause 7 – Quantification of GHG emissions	Clause 7 – Whole life carbon assessment principles to support decision-making
Clause 8 – Target setting, baseline setting and monitoring	Clause 8 – Target setting and baselines
Clause 9 – Reporting	Clause 9 – Monitoring and reporting
Clause 10 – Continual improvement	Clause 11 – Continual improvement
Clause 12 – Claims of conformity	Clause 12 – Claims of conformity

The references to specific clause numbers for claims of conformity remain unchanged (part of Clause 12 in PAS 2080). The latest version of PAS 2080:2023 is available to download from BSI: https://knowledge.bsigroup.com/products/carbon-management-in-buildings-and-infrastructure An updated guidance document for PAS 2080:2023 is available from ICE: https://www.ice.org.uk/engineering-resources/briefing-sheets/guidance-document-pas2080

Scoping criteria requirements – Award types that exclude project stages - KBCN1682

The following award types all exclude one or two project stages from an assessment: • Strategy & Design • Design & Construction • Design Only • Construction Only This can make it challenging to understand how to deal with situations where criteria refer to a stage or requirement that is not assessed as part of the award type. This is particularly prevalent for Construction Only Awards. It may be tempting to scope out these criteria because the required measures are ‘not in the design brief’ or ‘not our responsibility’. However, before scoping out any criteria, it must be considered whether the requirements could have been met, regardless of whether relevant measures were specifically asked for. ‘Scope out’ is determined by relevance. For example, in a Construction Only Award, the contractor should consider what measures they can take to meet the requirements without the assistance of the client or designer.

Summary of changes – BREEAM Infrastructure Term Contracts Version 6 - KBCN1546

BREEAM Infrastructure Term Contracts Version 6 was released on 12 October 2022. It replaces the previous scheme for the assessment of term contracts, CEEQUAL Term Contracts Version 5.2. The update aligns the scheme with BREEAM Infrastructure Projects Version 6 (formerly CEEQUAL Projects Version 6), bringing the changes introduced to project assessments in 2019:

New or updated technical requirements for:
- Carbon management – new issue on managing and reducing whole life carbon emissions using the approach described in PAS 2080.
- Circular economy – new requirements on considering and implementing alternative procurement options or circular economy business models.
- Resilience – new requirements added around risk assessment and mitigation.
- Biodiversity – new metric-based approach.
- Ethical labour – new issue on ‘Staff and supply chain social governance’.
- Protection of vulnerable road users – new criteria to improve safety and reduce risks for vulnerable road users.
New ‘Outstanding’ rating level and introduction of minimum standards (for the ‘Outstanding’ rating level). The rating levels for ‘Pass’ and ‘Good’ have also been increased to align with other BREEAM schemes.
Introduction of innovation category and credits – it is now possible to apply for approved innovation credits using the same process available in other BREEAM schemes.
Format and terminology are now more aligned with other BREEAM schemes.

The latest version of Term Contracts also incorporates additional improvements to the operation of the scheme:

Single manual for assessing all types of work. There were previously two separate technical manuals for CEEQUAL Term Contracts Version 5 (‘Construction of small or repetitive works’ and ‘Maintenance’). There is now one technical manual covering all types of work and the contract team have more choice in deciding what requirements are within the scope of the work types being assessed as part of the contract.
More flexibility in assigning criteria between contract management and activity delivery. Question scores were previously associated with either ‘Contract management’ or ‘Activity delivery’. The contract team now has flexibility to choose where individual requirements are scored.
Simpler fee structure. The fees are based on the contract value of the works being undertaken within the assessment cycle. They are raised one month prior to the commencement of each assessment cycle until the last assessment cycle of the contract. Verification fees are charged one month prior to each assessment cycle verification and are calculated on the number of work types.

The scheme is available for use both internationally and in the UK and Ireland. View the technical manuals

Train to become a Term Contracts Assessor Existing V6 Project Assessors can complete an online top-up training course to qualify as BREEAM Infrastructure Term Contract Assessors. For new assessors, there is a two-day BREEAM Infrastructure Term Contracts Assessor course. Find out more To find out more about using Term Contracts, visit the BREEAM webpages or contact us at [email protected].

Tools for LCA calculation in Norway – Life cycle assessment - KBCN1712

Some commonly used tools in Norway, such as vegLCA and NV-ghg, are observed to lack coverage of module C, which is required under criterion 7.3.1 for Life Cycle Assessment to achieve a higher level of performance beyond a Product LCA. If a project uses these tools, only a Product LCA can be achieved unless supplementary calculations addressing module C are included in the submitted evidence.

Using the CLIMB Model for Ecological Enhancement - KBCN1646

BREEAM Recognises CLIMB 1.2 Model as a means of complying with the requirements in BREEAM Infrastructure Issue 4.4 instead of the DEFRA Metric or BREEAM LUE calculator. The calculation you must do to get the percentage improvement in Biodiversity Net Gain from the CLIMB 1.2 model is as follows Percentage Improvement in Biodiversity Net Gain

Legend

Notation	Term	Equation
A	Area in Hectares	-
NV	Factor for Natural Value	-
L	Factor for Landscape Value	-
S	Difficulty Factor	-
L	Factor for Time	-
I	Factor for Indirect Influence	-
T0	before influence/action	-
T1	after impact/action	-
U	Present value CLIMB units
V	Fabricated CLIMB units by creating biotopes
X	CLIMB units lost through deterioration of the biotope
Y	CLIMB units lost through indirect impact
Z	CLIMB units lost through indirect impact

The credit allocation is for BREEAM Infrastructure is as follows:

CLIMB Model 1.2 Percentage Improvement in Biodiversity Net Gain	BREEAM Infrastructure V6 Credits Awarded
Less than -25%	0
Between -24% and -6%	10
Between -5% and 4%	20
Between 5% and 9%	30
10% and above	40

Please provide the CLIMB Model tool and supporting documentation as evidence for your assessment. Please also note that CLIMB units for offsite enhancements are not recognised by BREEAM Infrastructure, therefore the above calculation should only consider onsite enhancement.