! !

The
Implementation
of the BREEAN
Piocess in an
Euucational
Institute
A thesis submitteu in paitial fulfilment of
the iequiiements foi the Nasteis uegiee
of NSc Pioject Nanagement at the
0niveisity of Reauing
Nauia Butt 16u244uS
Septembei 2uu9
2

Declaration!

I ueclaie that the woik containeu in this uisseitation is the authois own oiiginal woik anu that
no pait has been plagiaiiseu fiom any souice whatsoevei.
Wheie woik oi iueas oi concepts have been taken oi auapteu fiom authois, these have been
piopeily citeu anu iefeienceu.
This uisseitation is appioximately 1S,uuu woius in length excluuing the appenuices.

Name: Nauia Butt

Signeu

Bate 18
th
Septembei 2uu9
! !
S

Abstract!
!!
Due to global pressures, the UK government has continuously emphasised sustainable issues and
one of the industries targeted for improvements in this field is the Construction Industry. A tool
was proposed for measuring the sustainable performance of buildings to meet the current
legislative trends set by the government for the Industry. A new build development at an
Educational Institute provided a firsthand opportunity to examine the implementation of
environmental assessment tools, in this case study BREEAM, which indicated the performance of
the building against a set of criteria.
In this paiticulai stuuy, piesumptions weie maue that all involveu piofessionals has assumeu
that they weie all equally knowleugeable of the BREEAN piocess. Bowevei, some of the teams
uiu not feel confiuent in using the BREEAN iating piocess because theie weie no conciete
guiuelines that they coulu follow. Even though the teams weie going thiough this piocess
unawaie of the unueistanuing of the BREEAN piocess, they still manageu to achieve a ielatively
iespectable enviionmental assessment iating.
This investigation aims to exploie the challenges faceu by teams.!!


4

Table!of!Contents!
Beclaiation 2!
Abstiact S!
Table of Contents 4!
List of Figuies anu Tables 7!
Acknowleugements 8!
Aims anu 0bjectives 9!
Bisseitation Stiuctuie 1u!
Chaptei 2: Builuing Enviionmental Assessment Nethous: Within the Context of
Sustainability 1u!
Chaptei S: Reseaich Nethous 1u!
Chaptei 4: Bata anu Bata Analysis 1u!
Chaptei S: Inteipietation anu Lessons Leaint 1u!
Chaptei 6: Conclusions anu Recommenuations 1u!
2! Builuing Enviionmental Assessment Nethous: Within the Context of Sustainability 11!
2.1! Iustification foi Reseaich 11!
2.2! An Intiouuction to Sustainable Bevelopment 12!
2.S! The Neaning of Sustainability 1S!
2.S.1! Enviionmental Sustainability 1S!
2.S.2! Economic Sustainability 14!
2.S.S! Social Sustainability 14!
2.4! The Neaning of Sustainability in the Constiuction Inuustiy 1S!
2.S! A Nove Towaius Sustainable Constiuction 16!
2.6! An Appioach to Sustainable Constiuction 17!
2.7! The Achievement of Sustainable Constiuction 18!
2.7.1! uieen Builuings 18!
2.8! Sustainable Besign 2u!
2.8.1! An Example of Sustainable Besign 21!
2.9! Builuing Enviionmental Assessment Nethous 22!
2.1u! An Intiouuction to BREEAN 24!
2.1u.1! BREEAN Schemes 24!
2.1u.2! BREEAN Assessment Cieuit Aieas 2S!
2.1u.S! The BREEAN Piocess 26!
2.1u.4! The Auvantages of BREEAN 28!
2.1u.S! The Bisauvantages of BREEAN 28!
2.1u.6! Influences Su!
2.11! Summaiy S1!
S! Reseaich Nethous SS!
S.1! Case Stuuy Appioach SS!
S

S.2! Socio-Technical Netwoik S4!
S.S! The Social Constiuction of Technology (SC0T) SS!
S.4! Actoi-Netwoik Theoiy (ANT) S6!
S.S! Iustification foi Bata uatheiing methous S6!
S.S.1! Reseaich Nethou Choice foi Bata uatheiing S8!
S.6! Instiuments foi Bata uatheiing S9!
S.6.1! Besign of the Inteiview S9!
S.7! Sample Selection S9!
S.8! Reseaich Besign 4u!
S.8.1! Bata uatheiing 4u!
S.9! Bata Analysis 42!
S.9.1! Piocess of uata analysis 42!
S.1u! Ethics 4S!
S.1u.1! Confiuentiality 4S!
4! Bata anu Bata Analysis 4S!
4.1! Case Stuuy Backgiounu Infoimation 4S!
4.1.1! An Intiouuction of BREEAN to the Case Stuuy 46!
4.1.2! Registiation of the Pioject with The BRE 47!
4.1.S! Intiouuction of BREEAN within the Piouuct Lifecycle Stages 48!
4.1.4! BREEAN Stiategy anu Iuentification of Key Playeis 49!
4.2! BREEAN Scenaiio 0ne Step 1 Su!
4.S! BREEAN Scenaiio 0ne Step 2 S1!
4.4! BREEAN Scenaiio 0ne Step S S1!
4.S! BREEAN Scenaiio 0ne Step 4 S2!
4.6! BREEAN Scenaiio Two S4!
4.7! BREEAN Scenaiio 2: Steps S4!
4.8! Summaiy of BREEAN Steps taken SS!
4.9! Biscussion of Themes S6!
4.9.1! Knowleuge anu Attituue about BREEAN S6!
4.9.2! The 0wneiship of BREEAN S9!
4.9.S! Becisions 61!
4.1u! Summaiy 6S!
S! Inteipietation anu Lessons Leaint 6S!
S.1! Knowleuge anu Attituue 6S!
S.1.1! Expeiience of the Client 66!
S.1.2! The Neeu foi Tiaining 67!
S.2! 0wneiship 68!
S.2.1! Level 1: Team Nembei 68!
S.2.2! Level 2: BREEAN Champion 7u!
6

S.S! Becisions 71!
S.4! Summaiy Biscussion 72!
6! Conclusions anu Recommenuations 74!
6.1! Conclusion 74!
6.2! Recommenuations 7S!
Refeiences 76!
Appenuices 8u!

!
7

List!of!Figures!and!Tables!
Figures!
Figuie 1 The S Pillais of Sustainability 1S!
Figuie 2 The conveigence of the thiee constitute paits 14!
Figuie S Biistol Biunel Acauemy, Biistol, 0K 21!
Figuie 4 Examples of Enviionmental Assessment Tools 2S!
Figuie S BREEAN aims to be aspiiational 24!
Figuie 6 BREEAN 2uu6 Ratings 26!
Figuie 7 A simplification of the BREEAN Assessment Piocess 27!
Figuie 8 Inteiview uiscipline inuentifieu foi the case stuuy 41!
Figuie 9 Inteiview Timescale 42!
Figuie 1u The team playeis in the BREEAN assessment piocess. 47!
Figuie 11 Neeting Attenuees Su!
Figuie 12 Scenaiio 0ne Piocess Flow Biagiam SS!
Figuie 1S Levels of 0wneiship 68!

Tables!
Table 1 The auvantages anu uisauvantages of the Suivey Nethou S7!
Table 2 The auvantages anu uisauvantages of the 0bseivation Nethou S7!
Table S The auvantages anu uisauvantages of the Inteiview Nethou S8!
Table 4 An example of pait of the Cieuit Summaiy Table S2!
Table S Extiact fiom the BREEAN Cieuit Summaiy Table 69!
Table 6 Example of a Responsibility Assignment Natiix (RAN) 71!


8

Acknowledgements!

I woulu like to take this chance to thank a numbei of people who have given me the oppoitunity
anu suppoiteu me gieatly in my jouiney to gaining my NSc qualification.
Fiist anu foiemost I woulu like to thank my sponsoi Beeiy Inteinational foi giving me this
oppoitunity.
To Libby Schwebei, thank you foi keeping me on tiack anu foi youi patience.
Naiia vahuati, thank you foi being so kinu anu taking me unuei youi wing.
Rachel Luck, thank you foi youi encouiagement, guiuance anu enthusiasm.
I woulu especially like to acknowleuge the suppoit of my managei Baviu Lusby who has
encouiageu my peisonal uevelopment thioughout the two yeai piogiamme anu woius of
encouiagement fiom my colleagues Ian Iones anu Nic Bavison.
I woulu like to thank all those who took the time out to be inteivieweu foi this uisseitation.
The Nastei of Science uegiee in Pioject Nanagement woulu not have been possible without the
continueu love, suppoit anu piayeis of my family anu fiienus especially my Nothei anu Fathei.
Thank you foi always having me in youi piayeis anu giving me youi blessings.

Finally, I woulu like to ueuicate this uisseitation to my biothei 0mai.
!
9

Aims!and!Objectives!
This stuuy aims to uemonstiate the BREEAN piocess on a ieal-time pioject baseu at an
Euucational Institute anu to ueteimine what factois affecteu the final BREEAN scoie.
The hypothesis is that a numbei of themes can be iuentifieu ievealing what can affect the final
BREEAN scoie. It is intenueu that the ieseaich will iesult in the iuentification of the numbei of
themes with a management iecommenuation foi action.
0uestions to be auuiesseu incluue:
! What membeis of the team implementing BREEAN thought of the assessment piocess.
! Biffeiences in the way piojects aie conuucteu without BREEAN.
! Who maue the uecisions.
! Weie they the iight uecisions.
With this in minu the objectives of the uisseitation have been iuentifieu as follows:
! Intiouuce BREEAN to the ieauei within the context of sustainability.
! Iuentify the methou in which the stuuy will be conuucteu.
! Collect uata thiough the appiopiiate methous.
! Bighlight anu analyse a numbei of themes within the uata.
! Bemonstiate what is iequiieu to ease the challenges faceu.


! !
1u

Dissertation!Structure!
Chapter!2:!Building!Environmental!Assessment!Methods:!Within!the!Context!of!
Sustainability!
This chaptei aims to give the ieauei an iuea of the 0K's geneial commitment to sustainability
anu how this has affecteu the constiuction inuustiy by iefeiencing iegulations, policy uiiectives
anu acauemic mateiial. This chaptei also intiouuces the concept of enviionmental assessment
methous anu BREEAN.
Chapter!3:!Research!Methods!
This chaptei pioviues justification foi the execution of numeious inteiviews anu uiscusses a
numbei of alteinative methous anu piesents a justification foi the use of inteiviews as the uata
collection tool. This chaptei aims to piesent the stuuy in a numbei of stages to the appioach
anu an intiouuction to the case stuuy on which this uisseitation is baseu.
Chapter!4:!Data!and!Data!Analysis!
This chaptei iuentifies thiee key themes anu uemonstiates the challenges faceu.
Chapter!5:!Interpretation!and!Lessons!Learnt!
The Bata anu Bata Analysis chaptei is fuithei expanueu heie wheie ieflections aie maue upon
the involvement anu potential limiting effects of each theme to the BREEAN scoie. These
themes have been ciitically assesseu.
Chapter!6:!Conclusions!and!Recommendations!
The impacts of the themes aie uiscusseu anu a pioposal foi fuithei ieseaich anu a management
iecommenuation foi action has been maue.

11

!
2 Building!Environmental!Assessment!Methods:!
Within!the!Context!of!Sustainability!
!

2.1 Justification!for!Research!
Following the UK governments recent attention to sustainable issues within the construction
industry, this chaptei takes the concept of sustainability, anu puts it into a constiuction inuustiy
context. Sustainability 'peifoimance inuicatoi', BREEAN, the most populai assessment tool in
the 0K, is intiouuceu to the ieauei. The achievement of a BREEAN iateu builuing incieases
maiketability. A ieview of the cuiient ieseaich has iuentifieu that theie is a gap. Bow is
BREEAN implementeu in piactice. Bow is it useu. This uisseitation exploies the 'ieality' of the
BREEAN tool thiough a case stuuy anu investigates the actuality of the people involveu anu the
piocesses that occui. This ultimately affects the 'shape' of the BREEAN piofile. Thus pioviuing
an excellent platfoim foi the enviionmental establishment of BREEAN to take notice of how the
tool is being inteipieteu anu implementeu at giounu level. Theie is little ieseaich on the 'usei
expeiience,' potentially limiting the numbei of impiovements maue to BREEAN. Theie is also
an oppoitunity foi the highei euucation establishment upon which the uata will be collecteu to
take note foi the futuie. The uiscussion which follows ieviews the concept of sustainable
uevelopment anu its extension to the constiuction inuustiy. The uiscussion concluues with a
uesciiption of the basic featuies of enviionment assessment tools in geneial anu of BREEAN in
paiticulai.

12

2.2 An!Introduction!to!Sustainable!Development!
A numbei of key events have been iuentifieu which put sustainability on the agenua. The teim
'Sustainable Bevelopment' was intiouuceu in 1987 fiom the iepoit 0ui Common Futuie, also
known as 'The Biunutlanu Repoit' anu was uefineu as:
"Sustainable!development!is!development!that!meets!the!needs!of!the!present!without!
compromising!the!ability!of!future!generations!to!meet!their!own!needs."
Brundtland!(1987)!
This iepoit was momentous as it helpeu piompt a wiue numbei of activities, incluuing:
The 0N Eaith Summits (in Rio ue Ianeiio, 1992 anu Iohannesbuig, 2uu2) auuiesseu the
piouuction of poisonous waste, ieplacement of fossil fuels linkeu to global climate change,
ieuuction in vehicle emissions, anu the giowing shoitage of watei. This iesulteu in the 0niteu
Nations Fiamewoik Convention on Climate Change (0NFCCC) ueliveiing an enviionmental
tieaty aimeu at stabilizing haimful gieenhouse gases. This leau to the uevelopment of the global
'Agenua 21' piogiammes ielating to sustainable uevelopment. This is a compiehensive mastei
plan of actions to be taken inteinationally, nationally anu locally by goveinments wheie the
enviionment may have been compiomiseu uue to human activity.
A mastei plan of action foi the 0K was iequiieu to manage figuies publisheu in the CIBSE,
Eneigy Efficiency in Builuings (1998). This iepoit iecoiueu that an estimateu 4S.2% of the total
0K eneigy consumption is fiom use within builuings anu the 'Economic Co-opeiation anu
Bevelopment (ECB) uieening anu National Engineeiing Specification (NES) Repoit' (2uu1)
stateu that this geneiateu appioximately 46% of the 0K's total Cu- emissions. The efficient
uesign, constiuction anu utilisation of builuings can uiamatically ieuuce Cu- emissions. These
iepoits weie a positive step towaius mitigating the effects of climate change anu this was latei
enuoiseu by a uiaft Climate Change Bill, infoimeu by the Eneigy White Papei 2uuS (BEFRA,
2uu8). Subsequently, the 0K biu to achieve a manuatoiy 6u% ieuuction in the 0K's Cu-
1S

emissions by 2uSu (compaieu to 199u levels). In auuition to this an inteimeuiate taiget of
between 26% anu S2% is iequiieu by 2u2u. (BEFRA, 2uu8).
The 0K uoveinment launcheu the Stiategy foi Sustainable Constiuction on 11th Iune 2uu8:
uefining the application of sustainable uevelopment within the constiuction inuustiy. This aims
to take a wiuei anu longei teim view of how the inuustiy can become moie sustainable anu
woik towaius the sustainability taigets set by the 0K uoveinment.

2.3 The!Meaning!of!Sustainability!
Theie is still a gieat uebate about the uefinition of sustainability. Sustainability is a ielatively
loose teim anu has been useu fiequently in political anu enviionmental ciicles. The uefinition
of sustainability is infoimeu by 'Thiee Pillais'. These aie:

Figure!1!The!3!Pillars!of!Sustainability!
A biief explanation of each main element follows:
2.3.1 Environmental!Sustainability!
This is piimaiily conceining the oveiall feasibility anu stiength of living systems - applicable to
both natuial anu wilu systems anu manageu anu agiicultuial systems, coveiing the wilueiness,
iuial anu uiban aieas. Becisions maue by the othei elements (economic oi social), neeu to
consiue
uistuibe
2.3.2
Nany ai
anu pio
econom
2.3.3
Social su
neeu to
uevelop
benefits
take yea
effects o


The abo
Bevelop

Figure!2!The
ei the iesilie
eu.
Economic!S
igue that un
ouuction uem
mic giowth s
Social!Sust
ustainability
be able to w
pment, what
s of builuing
ais to occui
of actions an
ove uiagiam
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e!convergence!o
ence of an en
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manus on th
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y is similai i
withstanu sh
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of!the!three!co
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an physical n
!
in concept to
hocks. If lan
ial effects on
ls in unueip
teim effects
ntages anu u
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ist Centuiy (

nstitute!parts!
14

al system an
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(2uu6)
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ental sustain
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ie moie pie
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eis when it i
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1S

0vei time, these concepts have been uevelopeu anu fuithei analyseu to iuentify the multi-
uimensions of each pillai Nunasinghe (1992a, 1994a) ueviseu the 'Sustainability Tiiangle'
which uefineu each pillai in uetail anu the ielationships between them. 0n the contiaiy 'The
faulty thiee-leggeu stool mouel of sustainable uevelopment' wiitten by Bawe anu Ryan, (2uuS)
makes cleai that theie aie thiee legs which suppoit the meaning anu significance of
sustainability, these being ecosystem, economy anu society. Elkington, (1997) anu Kohlei
(1999) anu vaiious otheis continueu to expanu on Bawe anu Ryans theoiy. Elkington, (1997)
puipoiteu that the thiee main entities weie in fact social, enviionment anu financial
peifoimance. Subsequently in 1999, Kohlei stateu that Bawe anu Ryans 'society leg' shoulu be
ieplaceu with a 'cultuial leg.' Contenuing that cultuie of the oiganisation will ueteimine how
successfully sustainability is implementeu.
!
2.4 The!Meaning!of!Sustainability!in!the!Construction!Industry!
The Constiuction Inuustiy must auapt its woiking piactices effectively to meet sustainability
taigets. The constiuction inuustiy is uefineu by eveiyone who cieates, uevelops, plans,
aiianges, uesigns, builus, alteis, oi maintains the built enviionment. This incluues mateiial
supplieis, manufactuieis, Clients, enu useis anu occupieis.
The concept of sustainability has uiamatically affecteu the Constiuction Inuustiy. The natuie of
the Constiuction Inuustiy ievolves aiounu the piouuction of newly built anu iefuibisheu
piouucts such as houses, flats, offices, schools, hospitals anu factoiies incluuing ioaus anu
biiuges. The constiuction of such piouucts uemanus a laige amount of natuial iesouice such as
timbei. It also uses high eneigy piocesses such as the manufactuie of cement. !
Consequently, the Constiuction Inuustiy has been watcheu closely by the goveinment,
enviionmental watchuog agencies anu consumeis. Attention will neeu to be given to all stages
fiom pie-constiuction to constiuction to post constiuction phases.
16

The 0K goveinment anu goveinments woiluwiue will be monitoiing the Constiuction Inuustiy
with the puipose of ensuiing that futuie uevelopments aie built to supply anu fulfil the
uemanus of touay by not affecting the neeus of tomoiiow. This is why the Constiuction
Inuustiy must auapt its woiking piactices effectively to meet taigets set uown to ieuucing the
haimful effects of inuustiy piactices on the enviionment, economy anu society.

2.5 A!Move!Towards!Sustainable!Construction!
Sustainable constiuction is a foim of sustainable uevelopment. In a iepoit co-oiuinateu by the
0K goveinment Business, Enteipiise anu Regulatoiy Refoim (BERR) in conjunction with the
Stiategic Foium foi Constiuction, sustainable constiuction has been uefineu as:
"the!creation!and!responsible!management!of!a!healthy!built!environment!based!on!
resource!efficient!and!ecological!principles"!
BERR,!Sustainable!Construction!Brief!2!
The principles of sustainable construction proposed by Kibeit (1994) infoimeu by the fiist
inteinational confeience on sustainable constiuction, Tampa Floiiua, Novembei 1994 Task
uioup 16 (Sustainable Constiuction) of the Compliance anu Inspection Bianch (CIB) foimally
uefineu the concept of sustainable constiuction as the:
1.!Minimisation!of!resource!consumption;!
2.!Maximisation!of!resource!reuse;!
3.!Use!renewable!and!recyclable!resources;!
4.!Protect!the!natural!environment;!
5.!Create!a!healthy!and!non"toxic!environment;!and!
6.!Pursue!quality!in!creating!the!built!environment.!
Kibert!(1994)!
17

Niyatake (1996) claims that to achieve sustainable constiuction, the Constiuction Inuustiy will
be iequiieu to change the piocesses of cieating built enviionments. Sustainable constiuction
will tiansfoim anu moueinise cuiient inuustiy uesign, piocuiement anu constiuction piactices.

2.6 An!Approach!to!Sustainable!Construction!
Sustainable uevelopment in the constiuction inuustiy is fiim on the agenua foi the 0K
goveinment. The 0ffice of uoveinment Commeice (0uC) iepoit 'Sustainability Action Plan'
(2uuu) states that sustainable constiuction is a:
set!of!processes!by!which!a!profitable!and!competitive!industry!delivers!built!assets!
(building,!civil!engineering!structures,!supporting!infrastructure,!and!their!immediate!
surroundings)!which:!
! Enhances!quality!of!life!and!offers!customer!satisfaction;!
! Offers!flexibility!and!the!potential!to!cater!for!user!changes!in!the!future;!
! Provides!and!supports!desirable!natural!and!social!environments;!and!
! Maximises!the!efficient!use!of!resources.!
OGC!report!Sustainability!Action!Plan!(2000)!

This emphasises impoitance of sustainable uesign to allow gieatei flexibility. Any uecisions
maue at the conception of a builuing uevelopment will ultimately affect the final uesign of the
piouuct. Raynsfoiu (2uuu) states that uesign affects the choice, foi example, of mateiial. As
pieviously mentioneu the Constiuction Inuustiy ielies heavily on natuial mateiial iesouices
anu how these aie extiacteu, utiliseu anu ieplaceu has significant beaiing on enviionmental
impacts.

18

2.7 The!Achievement!of!Sustainable!Construction!
To accomplish sustainable constiuction the final piouuct neeus to be exploieu. This section
aims to explain the impact of uecisions maue about the piouuct to achieve sustainably
constiucteu builuings.
2.7.1 Green!Buildings!

Fiej (2uuS) loosely uefines gieen builuings as the piouucts of a uesign philosophy which
consiueis the uemanus maue on the enviionment anu the impacts on human health. This
incluues the efficient use of eneigy, watei anu mateiials at all stages of the builuings lifecycle,
which is baseu upon pieuefineu stages fiom the uiawing boaiu to the enu usei occupation of
the builuing.

The uevelopment of a gieen builuing means caiefully analysing the enviionmental anu human
health issues at the outset anu uesigning to ieuuce impacts to these. Each uesign uecision will
affect human health anu enviionmental issues in one way oi anothei, foi example, eithei by
piocuiement of a mateiial which is bettei foi the enviionment than anothei, oi the placement
of a builuing so that it is close to tianspoit links.

Theie aie a numbei of aieas which each uevelopment can assess against to woik towaiu moie
sustainable uevelopments. These foui aieas aie:
! Energy: commit to becoming moie eneigy efficient to ieuuce eneigy consumption anu thus
minimising caibon footpiints.
! Materials: selecting ienewableiecycleu mateiials uuiing uesign anu manufactuie
iespectively.
! Waste: iecycling anu ieusing waste mateiials wheie possible anu the efficient management
of waste.
! Pollution: cieating fewei uistuibances to the suiiounuing enviionment.
19

These aieas pioviue woiking bounuaiies. Woiking within such bounuaiies may mean the
uiffeience between a sustainable uevelopment anu an unsustainable uevelopment. !

uieen builuings aie chaiacteiiseu by theii piioiitisation of human health anu impacts on the
enviionment ovei theii lifecycle. Foi example gieen builuings encompass conceins such as
human exposuie to toxic mateiials, souicing of ienewable eneigy anu iecyclable mateiials anu
alteinative eneigy technologies. These have been uetaileu in the afoiementioneu BERR iepoits.
Subsequently, souicing bettei mateiials anu uesigning moie efficiently piouuces bettei anu
highei quality builuings which last longei. The BN uoveinment iepoit 'Bettei Public Builuing'
(2uu6) enuoises that quality uesign anu mateiials make foi longei lasting, moie comfoitable
builuings. In tuin, these builuings cost less to maintain anu opeiate on a uaily basis. Bealth
wise, the builuings piesent gieatei usei satisfaction as aieas may be uesigneu to take auvantage
of natuial iesouices e.g. light.

It can be seen that gieen builuings consiuei the neeus anu health of the enviionment anu its
inhabitants in auuition to the neeus of the Client. The uesign of a builuing will affect the way a
builuing is constiucteu. Theiefoie sustainable uesign piactices shoulu be applieu at the outset
to ensuie all factois aie consiueieu. Not only uoes this affect Constiuction Inuustiy piactices,
but it has also ievolutioniseu the way builuings aie uesigneu.
!
2u

2.8 Sustainable!Design!

This section contains a ieview of sustainable uesign as one of the main steps towaius
sustainable constiuction. This iequiies oiiginal anu new solutions to pioblems which consiuei
the impact on the enviionment. Sustainable uesign looks to options which save eneigy, ieuuce
pollution, souice bettei mateiials anu costs less whilst pioviuing a bettei living anu woiking
enviionment. NcLennan (2uu4) stateu that sustainable uesign shoulu "eliminate negative
enviionmental impact completely thiough skilful, sensitive uesign" ieuucing uemanus on non-
ienewable eneigy, mateiials anu ieuucing auveise impacts on communities anu the
enviionment.
Shu-Yang, Fieeuman anu Cote (2uu4) claim that sustainable uesign is a ieaction to the global
ciisis that is: the iapiu giowth of the human population anu economic activity, loss of ienewable
iesouices anu continuous haim to the enviionment. Bow will the constiuction inuustiy
contiibute to ieuucing oi even iepaiiing the uamage alieauy uone.
This has been paitially auuiesseu by the 0iganisation foi Economic Co-opeiation anu
Bevelopments (0ECB) Enviionmental Stiategy: 2uu4 Review of Piogiess' iepoit. Five
objectives for the sustainable design of buildings were defined as follows:
! Objective!1:!Maintaining!the!integrity!of!ecosystems!through!the!efficient!
management!of!natural!resources!(with!a!special!focus!on!climate,!freshwater,!and!
biodiversity).!
! Objective!2:!De"coupling!environmental!pressures!from!economic!growth!(with!a!
special!focus!on!agriculture,!transport,!and!energy).!
! Objective!3:!Improving!information!for!decision!making:!Measuring!progress!
through!indicators.!
21

! Objective!4:!The!social!and!environmental!interface:!Enhancing!the!quality!of!life.!
! Objective!5:!Global!environmental!interdependence:!Improving!governance.!
Highlights!OECD!Environmental!Strategy:!2004!Review!of!Progress!
These objectives give the constiuction inuustiy focus anu uiiection to auuiess sustainably
uesigneu builuings with the in intention to ieuuce pollution anu iepaii uamage.
2.8.1 An!Example!of!Sustainable!Design!
This section aims to show a cuiient example of a pioject which
embiaceu sustainable uesign. The following example has been
taken fiom a Biistol City Council Local Euucation Paitneiship
Pioject as pait of the Builuing Schools foi the Futuie investment
piogiamme wheie the 0K goveinments aim is to iebuilu oi
iefuibish neaily eveiy seconuaiy school in Englanu. Bigh
stanuaius of sustainability weie achieveu anu these incluueu:
! high theimal mass anu natuial ventilation.
! high levels of insulation anu eneigy efficiency
! iainwatei haivesting
! biomass boileis
! low watei use fittings
! intelligent lighting
In auuition, a School Tiavel Plan has been implementeu to ieuuce cai usage anu impioveu ioau
safety.
Sustainable uesign is about cieating a balance between the thiee pillais: enviionment, economic
anu social to cieate bettei living anu woiking enviionments. The balance coulu be achieveu by
the coiiect implementation of an enviionmental assessment methou.
Figure!3!Bristol!Brunel!Academy,!
Bristol,!UK!
22

2.9 Building!Environmental!Assessment!Methods!
This section aims to intiouuce the concept of builuing enviionmental assessment methou.
Builuing Enviionmental Assessment Nethous pioviue a way of measuiing the sustainable
cieuentials of a builuing against a set of pieuefineu ciiteiia. Cole (1999) states that:
A!primary!role!of!a!building!environmental!assessment!method!is!to!provide!a!
comprehensive!assessment!of!the!environmental!characteristics!of!a!case"study!building.!
Cole!(1999)
Bioauly, the compiehensive assessment woulu be set of ciiteiia anu taigets against which the
uevelopment coulu be measuieu, giaueu anu then ceitifieu. These aie commonly founu in
checklist foimats wheie a uevelopment is iateu against ciiteiia in uefineu aieas such as eneigy,
tianspoit, watei, health anu wellbeing. Cole (1999) states enviionmental assessment methous:
provide!a!common!yardstick!for!measuring!progress!toward!sustainability.!!
Cole!(1999)!
Essentially, pointscieuits aie awaiueu wheie a uevelopment satisfies a ceitain ciiteiia. The
summation of these pointscieuits pioviues a giaue which falls within a scale. This scale
ueteimines how sustainable a builuing is anu can be implementeu at any stage of the pioject
lifecycle, though benefits aie moie auvantageous if the enviionment assessment methous aie
intiouuceu at the outset. Biffeiences between stakeholueis become appaient at the eaily stages
of the pioject when options aie piesenteu anu the vaiious iisks anu consequences aie
evaluateu, Peisson (1999).
Enviionmental assessment methous give uevelopments the oppoitunity to gain highei
enviionmental cieuentials which aie inuustiy iecogniseu. In auuition they pioviue uiiection
thioughout the uevelopment of the pioject as well as alteinative solutions anu sustainable
options.
2S

Theie aie a numbei of uiffeient enviionmental assessment methous cuiiently on the maiket.
GREENSTAR
B EES
HK-BEAM
HEEPI
Environmental
Assessment
Methods: Examples in Industry

Figure!4!Examples!of!Environmental!Assessment!Tools!

It is peiceiveu that some assessment methous aie moie appiopiiate than otheis uepenuing on
the scenaiio, foi example countiy of oiigin. Bong Kong Builuing Enviionmental Assessment
Nethou (BK-BEAN) is piimaiily foi piojects in Bong Kong. The NBS (National Bealth Seivice)
Enviionmental Assessment Tool (NEAT) has been useu in the past foi hospital piojects in the
0K. LEEB is a 0S baseu assessment tool, but is paiticulaily auvantageous because
uevelopments can be self iateu i.e. a LEEB accieuiteu piofessional neeu not be piesent. LEEB is
becoming moie populai in the 0K, but the Builuing Reseaich Establishment Enviionmental
Assessment Nethou (BREEAN) is the most populai enviionmental assessment methou in the
0K (Papauopoulous anu uiama, 2uu9). The BRE was pieviously owneu by the 0K goveinment
but is now a piivate oiganisation subsiuizeu by the builuing inuustiy. It can be assumeu that
theie is a stiong following of BREEAN because it is baseu on ieseaich in the 0K builuing anu
constiuction sectois anu moie ielevant than othei inteinational methous.
24

2.10 An!Introduction!to!BREEAM!
This section aims to intiouuce BREEAN at a high level anu explain the piocess ovei anu above
the auvantages anu uisauvantages. The influence of BREEAN on sustainable uesign,
constiuction anu uevelopment will also be exploieu.
BREEAN is a tool that gives owneis, uesigneis anu useis of a builuing the oppoitunity to
impiove the enviionmental peifoimance of a builuing at all stages. BREEAN is iegulaily
ieviseu anu upuateu to incoipoiate feeuback, new legislation anu policies.
BREEAN cateis foi the mass maiket anu aims to seek enviionmental stanuaius ovei anu above
the iegulatoiy minimum.

Figure!5!BREEAM!aims!to!be!aspirational!
2.10.1 BREEAM!Schemes!
This section iuentifies examples of BREEAN schemes. BREEAN schemes aie the categoiies in
which a builuing may be categoiiseu uue its chaiacteiistics. Selections of the schemes aie as
follows:
! Coue foi Sustainable Bomes
! Nulti Resiuential
! Schools
! Inuustiial
! 0ffices
! Retail
! Piisons
! Couits
! Bealthcaie
! Euucation
2S

Foi example, a uevelopei wishes to builu a waiehouse. This woulu be categoiiseu unuei the
'inuustiial' scheme anu pointscieuits will be awaiueu within this scheme against the
pieueteimineu ciiteiia.
2.10.2 BREEAM!Assessment!Credit!Areas!
This section iuentifies examples of BREEAN cieuit aieas. These lie within each BREEAN
scheme wheie sustainable uesign elements can be auuiesseu fuithei:
! Nanagement
! Bealth anu Wellbeing
! Eneigy anu Tianspoit
! WateiNateiials anu Waste
! Lanu use anu Ecology
! Pollution

Within each aiea lie specific measuiables. Some of the following ciiteiia woulu neeu to be
consiueieu:
! Baylighting
! view 0ut
! ulaie Contiol
! Lighting Zones
! Inteinal Aii Pollution
! Theimal Comfoit
! Niciobial Contamination
! Acoustic Peifoimance
This set of ciiteiia is focuseu on the comfoit of useis insiue the builuing which can in tuin be
ielateu to the social pillai as pieviously mentioneu. 0thei aieas such as eneigy anu tianspoit
will focus on moie enviionmental issues such as the ieuuction of Cu
2
emissions by the piovision
of public tianspoit.
26

2.10.3 The!BREEAM!Process!
This section aims to illustiate the pioceuuie of BREEAN anu the tools useu to implement it.
BREEAN iates a uevelopment against a set of ciiteiia on the BREEAN Scoiing Spieausheet. This
uocument is tallies the cieuits achieveu. An example section of this can be founu in Appenuix A.
The assessment is caiiieu out BREEAN Accieuiteu Piofessional. Points aie allocateu wheie the
team aie able to pioviue eviuence. If fuithei assistance is iequiieu, the BREEAN Nanuals can
be consulteu. These uetail each cieuit aiea anu aim to give guiuance on what is iequiieu anu
how it can be achieveu. If the manuals aie not sufficient, the queiy is sent uiiectly to the BRE
wheie a boaiu of expeits uiscuss the queiy. Finally, the points aie summeu up on the scoiing
spieausheet anu the enviionmental weightings aie applieu wheie necessaiy. This is a
peicentage applieu to each cieuit aiea which aims to noimalise the cieuits. Noimalisation gives
BREEAN iatings a sense of consistency anu pioviues a basis foi compaiison between foi
example, two uiffeient office blocks. The oveiall peicentage scoie is then achieveu. Ratings fall
into one of now six categoiies. These aie as follows:


Figure!6!BREEAM!2006!Ratings!

Coopei (1999) contenus that:
Many!environmental!issues!cannot!be!defined!by!a!single!performance!indicator!that!can!
be!easily!measured!or!predicted.!
(Cooper!1999)!

27

In auuition, Baapio anu viitaniemi (2uu8a) suggest that iesults shoulu be piesenteu foi eveiy
phase of the lifecycle so that it can be compaieu with othei assessment methous which may
have maue assessments at uiffeient stages in the pioject lifecycle. This ciitique of single giaue
foimat enviionmental assessments inuicates that theie aie possibly othei uimensions of the
assessment which aie not cuiiently consiueieu.
In oiuei to consoliuate the typical piocess of the BREEAN assessment methou, the following
uiagiam has been piouuceu.

Figure!7!A!simplification!of!the!BREEAM!Assessment!Process!
28

2.10.4 The!Advantages!of!BREEAM!
The auvantages of the BREEAN tool aie uiscusseu in this section. BREEAN is the most populai
enviionmental assessment methou in the 0K (Papauopoulos anu uiama, 2uu9). It is paiticulaily
beneficial foi the maiketability of new oi iefuibisheu uevelopments which can be tempting foi
buyeis.
Rigoious anu extensive uocumentaiy eviuence is iequiieu to gain BREEAN cieuits, in auuition
BREEAN is thiiu paity appioveu. This means that once an assessment is caiiieu out anu
submitteu to the BRE, an exteinal paity 'auuits' the assessment to ensuie the integiity of the
final iating awaiueu. BREEAN encouiages Pie-Assessment checks which gives a qualifieu
BREEAN Assessoi the oppoitunity to familiaiise themselves with the pioject anu theiefoie give
specific auvice having unueistoou the aims anu objectives of the pioject.
In summaiy, BREEAN appeais to be fiim in ensuiing that the assessments caiiieu out aie faii.
This makes ceitain that the BREEAN iatings aie challenging to achieve anu shoulu be valueu as
accomplishments.
2.10.5 The!Disadvantages!of!BREEAM!
The uisauvantages of the BREEAN tool aie uiscusseu in this section. As BREEAN has evolveu
ovei time, new stages, auuitional scheme anu cieuit ciiteiia have been auueu. This can be seen
to be making BREEAN oveily piesciiptive anu complex. In tuin this makes the system long anu
laboiious Ciawley anu Aho (1999). This also ielates to the assessment being eviuence baseu. It
is veiy 'uata hungiy' i.e. a lot of infoimation is iequiieu to satisfy the system. Ceitification is
peimanent meaning theie is gieat piessuie on the team to ensuie the uesiieu iating is ieacheu.
Theie aie also conceins that BREEAN:
provides!only!relative,!not!absolute!assessments!of!building!performance.!!
Cooper!(1999).!!!
29

The uefinition of 'ielative' in this case is that when measuiing a builuing against a set of ciiteiia,
these will be obseiveu uiffeiently by uiffeient BREEAN Assessois when assessing the same
builuing against the same peifoimance ciiteiia. The compaiison of the two assessments aie
saiu to be ielative anu not absolute. Neasuiements cannot be maue against like foi like because
usually no uevelopment is the same. Coopei (1999) also iepoiteu that:
relative!assessment!conceals!the!specific!(measureable)!impacts!of!a!development!on!the!
(global)!environment!!
Cooper!(1999)!
This shows that although compaiisons aie being maue e.g. a S stoiey office block in Lonuon City
compaieu to a S stoiey office block in Biimingham City: the vaiiables between the two locations
aie not exactly the same anu will theiefoie have a uiffeient impact on the enviionment.
Cuiwell anu Coopei (1999) state fuithei that BREEAN is pooi foi uealing with wiuei
sustainability issues such as builuing scale anu location which was conventionally uealt with by
local planning authoiities. Foi example, a builuing may ieceive a BREEAN "Excellent" iating foi
goou uesign anu low eneigy anu watei use, but it may be locateu so fai out that staff neeu to
tiavel fuithei by vehicle to get to it, thus cieating a laigei caibon footpiint. These
contiauictions pose a thieat to the integiity anu ieliability of BREEAN anu similai
enviionmental assessment methous, but they shoulu be met with common sense thus ensuiing
the bioauei taigets of sustainability aie consiueieu.
Bing (2uu7) iuentifieu BREEAN as one of the enviionmental assessment methous which uoes
not consiuei the financial aspects account foi financial limitations:
Some!assessment!tools!such!as!BREEAM,!BEPAC,!LEED!and!HK"BEAM!do!not!include!
financial!aspects!in!the!evaluation!framework.!!This!may!contradict!the!ultimate!principle!
of!a!development,!as!financial!return!is!fundamental!to!all!projects!because!a!project!may!
be!environmentally!sound!but!very!expensive!to!build.!!
(Ding!2007)!
Su

An evaluation fiamewoik is consiueieu as an aspect of the maiking ciiteiia when implementing
an assessment. Theiefoie unuei Nanagement, Bealth anu Wellbeing, Eneigy anu Tianspoit
cieuit aieas, theie woulu also be a 'Financial' cieuit aiea. Bing uiu not elaboiate fuithei on this
point as to what it woulu contain oi how it woulu be implementeu. A uevelopments main aim
woulu be to geneiate some soit of economic ietuin, but if the uevelopment is too expensive, the
Client oi builuing ownei will be less willing to invest in sustainable uesigns anu constiuction.
2.10.6 Influences!
The final BREEAN iesult can be subjective. This section gives a biief oveiview of what can
influence the final iesult anu categoiises these into 'haiu' anu 'soft' contiibutions to the
assessment.
Cole (1999) states that owneis, uesigneis anu useis have theii own agenua, iueas, skills,
opinions anu knowleuge in ielation to BREEAN anu what they wish to achieve. These can be
uefineu as 'soft contiibutions' baseu on feelings anu peisonal opinion. BREEAN scoiing is also
baseu on the opinion of a tiaineu assessoi. The implementation of the tool is open to
inteipietation, so each BREEAN assessoi will have his oi hei own 'style'. The inteipietation of
infoimation extiacteu fiom uiscussions that might take place is also slanteu. 0wneis, uesigneis
anu useis with voices will be heaiu fiist by the BREEAN Assessoi, influencing the eviuence
pioviueu foi the assessment. This fuitheis the notion that the final iesult is subjective (Ciawley
anu Aho, 1999).
Examples of 'haiu contiibutions' to the assessment is the mapping of haiu factual eviuence to
the BREEAN ciiteiia e.g. aie the pioximity of key amenities locateu within Suu meteis of the
uevelopment, Yes oi No. If yes, then the cieuit is achieveu. If No, then the cieuit is not
achieveu. The 'featuie' specific anu 'checklist' natuie of BREEAN uoes not have the capacity to
catei foi oi consiuei 'soft contiibutions' like geneial attituue, pievious expeiience, knowleuge
anu skill.

S1

As these aie valiu influences on the final iesult, it seems that they shoulu be quantifieu anu
incoipoiateu into the oveiall iating. Bow this is uesigneu anu implementeu howevei, is anothei
topic entiiely.
No assessment will be implementeu oi iesult in the same way as theie aie an infinite numbei of
'soft' anu 'haiu' vaiiables anu uiffeient scenaiios. It is theiefoie uifficult to cieate paiauigms to
analyse why ceitain BREEAN piofiles look the way they uo. This gives little assuiance that if a
sustainable featuie is uesigneu into the builuing, that it will achieve the same cieuits as anothei
builuing with the same featuie. This investigation aims to analyse why a BREEAN piofile
appeais a ceitain way anu if theie aie any lessons leaint which can be applieu to similai
uevelopments utilising BREEAN in similai scenaiios.
!
2.11 Summary!!
This chaptei has intiouuceu the concept of sustainable uevelopment within the 0K. vaiious 0K
goveinment initiatives have been citeu to iaise awaieness of the cuiient national stiategies put
in place to auheie to vaiious tieaties, conventions anu piomises maue globally to ieuuce climate
change - this being the global enviionmental ciisis. These initiatives have also been uiiecteu
towaius the constiuction inuustiy as a laige playei of unsustainable woiking piactices. But
things aie changing with sustainable constiuction anu sustainable uesign piactices. These
attempts pioviue guiuance to the inuustiy on how to stiike a balance between the thiee pillais,
enviionmental, economic anu social iequiiements as well as Client iequiiements.
Enviionmental assessment methous weie intiouuceu to pioviue a 'measuie' of enviionmental
peifoimance. With new initiatives coming into play iegulaily anu moie acauemic ieseaich
being caiiieu out, it is helpful to see how 'enviionmentally fiienuly' a uesign oi constiucteu
builuing is. It is iecommenueu that BREEAN is implementeu fiom the outset of a pioject so that
sustainable uesign is put into piactice at the beginning. The BREEAN ciiteiia influences uesign.
S2

If the builuing is not sustainable enough oi uoes not ieach the Clients uesiieu iating, then theie
aie options to make it so. The sustainable uesign infoims the constiuction methous anu the
constiuction methous infoim the oveiall sustainable uevelopment wheie the intention is to
meet:
...the!needs!of!the!present!without!compromising!the!ability!of!future!generations!to!meet!
their!own!needs."
Brundtland!(1987)!
While theie is lots of infoimation on the basic aims anu foimal featuies of enviionmental
assessment tools, theie is little known about how well they uelivei. The iemainuei of the
uisseitation will ieview how well BREEAN has been ueliveieu to an Euucational Institute case
stuuy anu concluues with the iuentification of a numbei of themes.

SS

!
3 Research!Methods!!
!

This chaptei pioviues an insight into the possible appioaches to the pioject anu attempts to
uesign a methouology foi the collection of uata in ielation to the aims anu objectives. The
coiiect methou was iequiieu to extiact the iight level of infoimation fiom the useis of BREEAN
in a paiticulai way which hau alloweu them to openly expiess theii expeiience of the use of
BREEAN. A numbei of alteinative ieseaich methous weie iuentifieu followeu by justification
foi the chosen methou. As pieviously mentioneu this chaptei aims to piesent the stuuy in a
numbei of stages to the appioach anu intiouuceu the case stuuy on which this uisseitation is
baseu.

3.1 Case!Study!Approach!
The case stuuy appioach is a ieseaich stiategy which analyses the empiiical anu eviuence baseu
stuuy of a single gioup of people in a paiticulai situation. Theie aie foui uiffeient types of case
stuuy appioach, Yin (2uuS):
Exploratory!Case!Studies: these aie case stuuies which aie unueitaken as 'pilot' stuuies piioi
to the uefinition of a laigei investigation. They assist in ueteimining what piotocols will be
useu in the final investigation.
Explanatory!Case!Studies:!these aie!appiopiiate foi causal stuuies (cause anu effect) anu not
only uesciibe an event oi occuiience, but also explain why oi how the event stuuieu happeneu
the way it uiu.
S4

Descriptive!Case!Studies:!these uesciibe an event in a ieal-life context. Besciibing the change
management piocess on a pioject may be an example of this. This investigation woulu typically
answei the Who, What, Wheie Why anu When questions.
Illustrative!Case!Studies:!these!illustiate specific events occuiiing in uesciiptive case stuuies.!!!
Exploiatoiy case stuuy technique will not be auopteu in this uisseitation, as this is not a pilot
stuuy. A uesciiptive stuuy will not be useu in this instance, as this uoes not take the stuuy into
enough uetail to satisfy the aim of the uisseitation. Anu finally, the illustiative case stuuy notion
will not be useu foi similai ieasons.
This uisseitation will use the explanatoiy case stuuy appioach to extiact iaw uata fiom a
sample gioup of people. These will be thoughts anu peisonal obseivation's, asceitaining
conceins anu issues that an inuiviuual hau whilst paiticipating in the BREEAN piocess.

3.2 Socio"Technical!Network!
The socio-technical netwoiks allow an investigative fiamewoik to be useu to analyse
technological anu social aspects as jointly foimeu entities. Fiist mentioneu by I.A. Baines
(19S4) socio-technical netwoiks aie baseu upon a combination of uiffeient team membeis fiom
uiffeient fielus of societies, which come togethei to be involveu within an elaboiation of a tool
oi a piocess foi peifoimance enhancement. The theoiy has a significant following in a vaiiety
of fielus fiom geogiaphy to I.T. In this scenaiio, the social aspects of the fiamewoik woulu be
iuentifieu as the team membeis coming togethei to be involveu in the implementation of the
BREEAN enviionmental assessment piocess. Theie aie a numbei of vehicles foi socio-technical
analysis: the two that have been uesciibeu aie: 'The Social Constiuction of Technology
(SC0T)'anu 'Actoi-Netwoik Theoiy (ANT)'.

SS

3.3 The!Social!Construction!of!Technology!(SCOT)!!
The Social Constiuction of Technology (SC0T) as uesciibeu by Bijkei (199S) views uevelopment
of technology anu change fiom "social shaping of technology anu technical shaping of society".
In this case, 'technology' woulu be the enviionmental assessment methous. In essence Bijkei
uesciibes the uevelopment of new technologies as a "highly social enueavoui" involving a
uiveise mix of social aiiangements anu that new technologies will take on meanings thiough
social inteiaction anu use. The shaping of new technologies theiefoie is an unsystematic
piocess anu the ieason why the social constiuction of technology is useful in this instance is
that it can be useu to illustiate the notion of sustainability anu enviionmental assessment
methous.
Steinbeig anu Rissen (2uu6) continue along this theoiy that gioups foim in ielation to what
they unueistanu a ceitain notion to be. The inteipietation of this is then 'negotiateu' between
the gioups, which naiiows uown the meaning, uecieasing the amount of inteipietive flexibility
until consensus is achieveu. Stenbeig anu Rissen (2uu6) wiite:
The!dominance!of!one!group!over!another!depends!on!the!way!in!which!a!group!is!able!to!
use!its!resources!and!alliances!to!translate!its!worldview!into!acceptable!images!for!other!
groups.!!This!ability!is!termed!the!power!of!enrolment!(i.e.!the!ability!to!persuade!a!person!
or!a!group!by!creating!an!argument!that!is!interesting!and!attractive!enough!to!block!the!
persons!or!groups!need!to!seek!other!arguments.)!
Stenberg!and!Rissen!(2006)!
Theiefoie if a Besign Team has a peiceiveu view of sustainability oi enviionmental assessment
methous, then it may be this view that they impose on the Client, which may ultimately
influence the uecisions maue on the pioject. The insights into the use of BREEAN gaineu by
taking this appioach may be beneficial in analysing the inteiactions between team membeis
anu may assist in iuentifying conflicts anuoi limitations.

S6

3.4 Actor"Network!Theory!(ANT)!
ANT was uevelopeu by a numbei of scholais incluuing Callon, Latoui anu Law. An actoi can be
uefineu as an influencing entity, oi a peison who foims ielationships oi influences othei actois.
An entity in this case woulu be the enviionmental assessment methou BREEAN. This theoiy
analyses the ielationships between each actoi anu the lifecycle of that ielationship, fiom the
biith of the ielationship to the collapse anu foimation of othei ielationships with new actois
anu entities. These ielationships aie evei-changing anu continually ienewing anu collapsing.
ANT is not useu to explain why a netwoik takes a ceitain foim: it looks moie into how the
netwoik of actois anu entities aie shapeu. In this case the ielationships that the actois have
with the entity BREEAN can be analyseu thioughout the assessment methou ueteimining how
the final pictuie was shapeu.
Baseu upon the above backgiounu infoimation it was ueteimineu that the best way to collect
uata anu analyse socio-technical netwoiks was thiough the use of eithei suiveys, obseivations
oi face to face inteiviews.

3.5 Justification!for!Data!Gathering!methods!!
Theie weie thiee possible uata gatheiing methous:
! Suiveys
! 0bseivations
! Face to face inteiviews
A biief stuuy of the auvantages anu uisauvantages of each aiea was unueitaken anu the iesults
weie tabulateu as shown oveileaf:
!
S7

Table!1!The!advantages!and!disadvantages!of!the!Survey!Method!
Advantages! Disadvantages!
Relatively inexpensive anu easy to obtain Stanuaiu questions may be minimally ielevant
to all paiticipants, possibly missing what is
ielevant to many paiticipants.
Can uesciibe a laige population making iesults
statistically significant.
Besign anu auministiation of the tool is to be
kept constant thioughout the stuuy, ueeming
the methou ielatively inflexible.
Can be uone iemotely using email, telephone,
by post oi face to face.
In oiuei to be successful, a high peicentage of
the population will neeu to ieply.
Consiueiably flexible as many questions can
be askeu.
Bepenuing on the topic, it may be uifficult foi
paiticipants to iemembei infoimation about
the question.
Stanuaiu questions make measuiement easiei
by enfoicing stanuaiuiseu uefinitions upon
paiticipants.
Suiveys aie not appiopiiate foi uealing with
context.
uioups of uata can be compaieu uue to
stanuaiuiseu questions.
!
!
!
!
!
!
Table!2!The!advantages!and!disadvantages!of!the!Observation!Method!

Advantages! Disadvantages!
The ieseaichei will have fiist-hanu expeiience
of the piocess.
The enu iecoiueu iesult is subjective to the
ieseaicheis own peiception of the event.
All iecoius anu accounts will be fiist-hanu. Theie coulu be too few obseivations foi a
conclusion to be uiawn anu foi the stuuy to
mean anything.
No calculations iequiieu. Bifficult to measuie outcomes when uiffeient
people use uiffeient vocabulaiy.
Relatively accuiate. Bigh possibility of the final iesults containing
human eiioi.
The ieseaichei is able to unueistanu the
context oi natuial setting of the pioblem.
Fiequent neeu to measuie attituues, belief anu
opinions.
! Ethical issues
! The stuuy may affect the behavioui of the
paiticipants.

!
S8

Table!3!The!advantages!and!disadvantages!of!the!Interview!Method!

Advantages! Disadvantages!
Will achieve a high iesponse iate Time consuming: piepaiing, inteiviewing
tiansciibing anu piesenting.
uives the paiticipant an oppoitunity to tell
theii 'siue of the stoiy' anu aie not influenceu
by othei people.
What is iecoiueu is subjective to the
ieseaicheis own peiception of the event.
vagueness oi ambiguity can be cleaieu up by
piobing fuithei anu asking moie uetaileu
questions.
The inteiviewei's bouy language coulu affect
the answei given by the paiticipant.
0uestion can be claiifieu so that the
paiticipant shaies ielevant infoimation.
Paiticipants may be les self conscious in a face
to face, one to one setting.
Bata is available instantly.
!
3.5.1 Research!Method!Choice!for!Data!Gathering!
Consiueiing the time anu iesouice limitations of this uisseitation, anu the biief evaluation of
each uata collection technique, as above, it was concluueu that inteiviews weie ueemeu most
appiopiiate foi this stuuy, pioviuing the in-uepth knowleuge iequiieu. The ieason foi this was
baseu upon how to best extiact infoimation out of a select gioup of people in the most unbiaseu,
accuiate anu valiu way.
The use of suiveys anu obseivations has not been chosen uue to the small sample iuentifieu foi
this stuuy. The sample chosen is too little foi the use of a suivey anu the BREEAN assessment
meetings hau alieauy taken place, iuling out the use of the obseivation technique. Bowevei,
this woulu have been a stiong contenuei if this stuuy took place uuiing an assessment.

!
S9

3.6 Instruments!for!Data!Gathering!!
3.6.1 Design!of!the!Interview!
0uestions weie open-enueu, but specific enough to pioviue the paiticipant with the coiiect
focus. 0pen-enueu questions aie usually useu in counselling anu theiapy, but in this instance, it
was to pioviue the founuation foi paiticipants to talk about what was impoitant to them anu
encouiage them to shaie significant mateiial. This makes the inteiview session less like an
inteiiogation.
The choice of a semi-stiuctuieu inteiview was piouuceu in the foim of a piompt sheet. Caieful
woiuing, foimat anu content of questions weie consiueieu to ieuuce unieliability anu be moie
time efficient. A copy of this can be founu in Appenuix B.
The inteiviews weie not auuio iecoiueu foi confiuentially puiposes anu also this may have
affecteu the iesponses of the paiticipants. Betaileu hanu-wiitten notes weie piouuceu uuiing
the couise of the inteiview anu tiansciibeu fully on the same uay.

3.7 Sample!Selection!
A select numbei of paiticipants weie chosen to contiibute to this stuuy. A mix of people
selecteu fiom a BREEAN meeting attenuee list was iuentifieu. The iange of uisciplines incluueu:
1. Two Clients fiom the Facilities Nanagement Biiectoiate at the Euucational Institute
2. Two Clients fiom Resiuential anu Commeicial Seivices
S. Aichitect
4. Builuing Seivices Engineei
S. Stiuctuial Engineei
6. 0uantity Suiveyoi
4u

The selection aimeu to have a numbei of people who hau been involveu anu not involveu in the
assessment piocess so that contiasting views coulu be obtaineu. By completing inteiviews fiom
uiffeient oiganisations anu gaining uiffeient insights into the topic, it was hopeu that the
valiuity of the iesults woulu be stiengtheneu.

3.8 Research!Design!
3.8.1 Data!Gathering!!
The uata collecteu compiiseu 9 inteiviews which weie conuucteu ovei a S week intensive
peiiou. Team membeis weie initially contacteu via email, intiouucing the uisseitation anu the
peiceiveu value that the ieseaich woulu biing to the euucational establishment.
9 out of 1u people contacteu iesponueu anu inteiviews weie set up anu weie conuucteu ovei
lunch oi coffee bieaks foi the uuiation of 1 houi each. At times, this was extenueu when the
paiticipant was paiticulaily passionate about the topic. The 1u
th
paiticipant was not able to
spaie the time uue to a family beieavement. This was the Pioject Nanagei.
41


Figure!8!Interview!discipline!indentified!for!the!case!study!
Figuie 8 illustiates the sample numbei of people inteivieweu anu the iange of uisciplines. Foui
membeis of the Client Team weie inteivieweu to pioviue a iange of uiffeiing insights.
!
42

!
Figure!9!Interview!Timescale!
Figuie 9 uepicts the inteiviews conuucteu uuiing the S week peiiou.

3.9 Data!Analysis!
A qualitative (quality), iathei than a quantitative (quantity) uata analysis was taken as it meets
the objectives of the thesis.
3.9.1 Process!of!data!analysis!
0nce the infoimation hau been tiansciibeu, a numbei of concuiient themes weie iuentifieu
within each tiansciiption. Each comment maue by the paiticipant ielating to a specific theme
was maikeu with a key. This was ueviseu once the uata was collecteu as the themes weie
uniuentifiable befoie the uata gatheiing took place.
An example of this is as follows:
4S


Theme!(T),!Number!(n)!
BREEAN Knowleuge T1
Piocess T2
Becisions TS
Theme!(T),!Number!(n)!
Attituue T4
Attenuance TS
Lack of 0wneiship T6

The themes with the most iemaiks weie iuentifieu as the key themes anu weie inteipieteu in
the following chaptei using causal analysis. This analysis technique aimeu to explain the
ieasoning foi the occuiience of the iuentifieu themes anu the impacts that these hau on the
actoi's ielationships with each othei anu the BREEAN entity.
!
3.10 Ethics!
This uisseitation has been conuucteu in accoiuance with the 0niveisity of Reauing School of
Constiuction Nanagement Ethics Committee.
Befoie the inteiview, the paiticipant was issueu with an infoimation sheet. A copy of this can be
founu in Appenuix C. This biiefly uetaileu the stuuy, how it was to be conuucteu anu infoimeu
the paiticipant that they coulu withuiaw at anytime. Each paiticipant was also issueu with a
consent foim which heshe signeu inuicating appioval of use of the infoimation they impaiteu
in the inteiview. These consent foims weie submitteu to the Ethics Committee shoitly aftei
completion of the inteiviews, to be kept on iecoiu.
3.10.1 Confidentiality!
All infoimation obtaineu fiom these inteiviews was lockeu in a secuie enviionment.
The names of the companies anu inuiviuuals involveu in this uisseitation have been kept
confiuential. ueneiic teims such as 'The Client' anu 'The Leau Besignei' have been auopteu to
44

piotect the iuentity of the pioject team. The facility on which this uisseitation has been baseu
has been iefeiieu to as an 'Euucational Facility'.

Aftei ieseaiching seveial options on how to collect anu analyse the uata, it was thought the best
appioach woulu be the socio-technical appioach which suppoiteu the analysis of the
ielationship the actois hau with the BREEAN piocess. The uata collecteu fiom this appioach
was thiough the implementation of semi-stiuctuieu inteiviews on a gioup of people involveu in
the case stuuy.
! !
4S

!
4 Data!and!Data!Analysis!
!

Following the inteiviews to collect uata, thiee themes emeigeu fiom the analysis. These
incluueu
1. Knowleuge of anu attituue towaius BREEAN.
2. 0wneiship (uiivei) of the BREEAN piocess.
S. Becision Naking.
These assist in explaining the knowleuge anu attituue towaius the BREEAN assessment foi an
Euucational Institute by fiist time inexpeiienceu useis anu the effects of this on owneiship of
the BREEAN piocess anu inuiviuual actions.

4.1 Case!Study!Background!Information!!
As pait of the Euucation Facility's 1u yeai majoi ieuevelopment plan, all new anu iefuibisheu
uevelopments aie iequiieu to achieve a BREEAN 'veiy uoou' iating of between SS%-7u%
inclusive. Please iefei to Figuie 6. This aspiiation was maue by the euucation establishment at
a coipoiate anu stiategic level but was also imposeu as a manuatoiy planning conuition fiom
the Local Planning Authoiity (LPA). Planning conuitions aie iegulatoiy piovisos imposeu on
uevelopeis. In othei woius if planning conuitions aie not satisfieu then the LPA will penalise
the uevelopei in the foim of a fine oi a manuatoiy iequiiement to be useu the local community,
foi example, the installation of bicycle iacks oi a new play aiea foi chiluien.

46

4.1.1 An!Introduction!of!BREEAM!to!the!Case!Study!
Initially the iequiiement foi a BREEAN assessment was wiitten into the pioject biief foi this
case stuuy pioject. This is a uocument which outlines the Client's pieliminaiy iequiiements, foi
example:
We!require!a!cafe.!!It!should!seat!30!people.!!It!must!have!the!facility!to!serve!hot!and!cold!
drinks...It!should!achieve!a!BREEAM!Very!Good!rating!
The pioject biief is one of many uocuments upon which the consultants tenueieu. A tenuei is
an offei to caiiy out woik that the Client was offeiing. Within this offei, the consultants showeu
that they weie capable of being a pait of BREEAN assessments by mentioning pievious piojects
that they hau woikeu on. In this paiticulai aiea, this gave the euucation establishment the
confiuence that the consultants hau been a pait of piojects wheie uesiieu BREEAN iatings hau
alieauy been achieveu. A numbei of companies within each uiscipline i.e. aichitectuie, builuing
seivices anu stiuctuial etc, tenueieu foi the job. The most capable consultants fiom each
uiscipline weie selecteu. Foi the case of the BREEAN assessoi howevei, this piocess was not
followeu as the aichitect offeieu theii own in-house BREEAN consultant to caiiy out the
assessment.

47


Figure!10!The!team!players!in!the!BREEAM!assessment!process.!

The main team playeis have been illustiateu above. Note that theie aie foui Client membeis.
4.1.2 Registration!of!the!Project!with!The!BRE!
BREEAN iequiies foi all piojects to be iegisteieu with them. This pioject was iegisteieu in
Naich 2uu8 unuei the 'multi-iesiuential' scheme. A multi-iesiuential scheme woulu be classeu
as a builuing which containeu uiffeient functions othei than self-containeu uwellings such as
cateiing facilities, communal aieas etc. It was impeiative that this iegistiation was unueitaken
unuei BREEAN 2uu6 which is moie lenient than the iecently intiouuceu BREEAN 2uu8.
BREEAN 2uu8 came into play on 24
th
Iune 2uu8 anu ieviseu featuies like the enviionmental
weightings, infoimation on the BREEAN Nanuals, intiouuction of post constiuction ceitificates
anu the BREEAN '0utstanuing' iating between 8S%-1uu% inclusive. Please iefei to Figuie 6.
BREEAN 2uu8 states that it is compulsoiy to appoint a commissioning managei at the enu of
the uevelopment. This is foi a cost of 2S,uuu to the pioject. BREEAN also intiouuceu the two-
stage assessment piocess wheie ceitificates woulu be given foi the uesign stage anu the post
constiuction stage. BREEAN 2uu6 only issueu ceitificates in the uesign stage. Natuially, the
48

Client agieeu that the uevelopment shoulu be assesseu unuei BREEAN 2uu6 to take auvantage
of the savings.
4.1.3 Introduction!of!BREEAM!within!the!Product!Lifecycle!Stages!
Aftei iegistiation, BREEAN was fiist seiiously consiueieu on the pioject in the Royal Institute of
Biitish Aichitects (RIBA) Stage E** piouuct lifecycle stage.
Piojects iun thiough a numbei of piouuct uevelopment stages, these aie:
!Stage!A!Appraisal!Briefing - Iuentification of Clients iequiiements anu constiaints on
uevelopment.
Stage!B!Preparing!Strategic!Brief - Client confiimation of key iequiiements anu constiaints.
!Stage!C!Outline!Proposals - 0utline uesign pioposals anu cost estimates piepaieu.
!Stage!D!Scheme!Design!and!Planning!Detailed!Proposals - Beteimination of appioach to
layout, uesign anu constiuction.
**!Stage!E!Detailed!Design -Fiim outline specification uefineu anu planning aiiangements.
Becisions maue on appeaiance, constiuction methou, anu cost of the pioject.
Stage!F!Production!Information - Final uecisions taken on uesign, specification, constiuction
anu cost.
Anu the numeious othei stages.
The stiategic biief is a key uocument pioviuing fuithei uetail to the afoiementioneu pioject
biief. Foi example, wheie the pioject biief stateu:
We!require!a!cafe.!!It!should!seat!30!people.!!It!must!have!the!facility!to!serve!hot!and!cold!
drinks...It!should!achieve!a!BREEAM!Very!Good!rating!


49

The stiategic biief stateu:
We!require!a!cafe.!!It!should!seat!30!people.!!15!in!table!and!chair!format!and!15!in!sofa!
format.!!It!must!have!the!facility!to!serve!hot!and!cold!drinks.!!For!hot!drinks,!a!set!down!
area!must!be!provided!where!milk,!sugar!and!the!like!can!be!collected...materials!used!
should!be!hard!wearing!the!durable...!
Theie is a significant uiffeience in the level of uetail anu this was built upon thiough the stages.
Simultaneously, the Besign Team set out these iequiiements visually by uiawing plans of the
uevelopment. It was ueciueu that the builuing shoulu be uevelopeu enough to waiiant a
BREEAN assessment, i.e. theie woulu be little point in implementing an assessment on a
builuing any time befoie knowing what it was anu how it was going to be constiucteu. Theie
was a ieasonable level of uetail on location anu oiientation of the builuing, pioposeu mateiials,
seivices etc to caiiy out an assessment on. The Besign Team knew that by taking an eaily
stiategic appioach to iating the builuing to the BREEAN ciiteiia, the soonei necessaiy changes
coulu be maue, ieuucing the neeu foi iewoik at latei stages which woulu inciease cost to the
Client.
4.1.4 BREEAM!Strategy!and!Identification!of!Key!Players!
The BREEAN assessment was split into two scenaiios.
Scenario!One: This aimeu to iaise awaieness of BREEAN anu test the uevelopment unuei the
ciiteiia in oiuei to achieve a BREEAN 'veiy uoou' iating without enhancements.
Scenario!Two: This aimeu to emphasis the achievement of auuitional cieuits thiough extia
effoit oi extia funuing to exceeu the uesiieu peicentage iating.
This was not a BREEAN suppoiteu piactice but was an inteinal piactice uevelopeu anu auopteu
by the consultancy fiim conuucting the BREEAN assessment.
[BREEAM!Assessor]!The!scenarios!were!designed!by!<name>!as!its!a!better!way!of!
approaching!things.!!Ive!adopted!this!in!the!assessments!I!lead.!
A BREEAN assessment woulu geneially take a Scenaiio Two appioach piioi to testing what
coulu actually be achieveu without auuitional effoit oi funuing.
Su

Scenaiio 0ne took place in the miu-to-enu phase of RIBA Stage E. This was also iefeiieu to as
the Pie-Assessment Neeting anu the

4.2 BREEAM!Scenario!One!Step!1!
The following team membeis weie inviteu:
!
Figure!11!Meeting!Attendees!
The Scenaiio 0ne meeting was aiiangeu by the Leau Besignei anu was chaiieu by the BREEAN
Assessoi.
[Lead!Designer]!You!should!really!send!out!an!empty!assessment!checklist!form!for!
everyone!to!read!before!they!attend!the!meeting.!!!
Bowevei, no pieliminaiy infoimation as uesciibeu above was sent out piioi to the meeting.
The piocess foi Scenaiio 0ne took place as follows:

S1

4.3 BREEAM!Scenario!One!Step!2!
To begin, the BREEAN Assessoi ieau out each cieuit, within each cieuit aiea, within each
scheme. Foi example
Transport,!T3,!Proximity!to!Key!Amenities.!!How!far!is!the!development!from!key!
amenities?!!You!can!only!achieve!the!credit!if!amenities!are!located!within!500!meters!of!
the!development.!
Please iefei to Table 4 on the following page.
The Besign Team uiscusseu anu agieeu upon all the cieuits that hau alieauy been achieveu
without enhancements. The BREEAN scoiing spieausheet was upuateu accoiuingly. This
uocument is a pie-piogiammeu Niciosoft Excel Spieausheet which allows the BREEAN
assessoi to keep scoie. Foi example if the uevelopment was within Suu meteis of key
amenities, then a '1' woulu be inseiteu into the cell labelleu 'TS' which uenotes 'Pioximity to
Key Amenities.' As the meeting continueu anu cieuits weie uiscusseu, these weie tallieu,
cieating an oveiall pictuie. Enviionmental weightings weie applieu automatically within the
spieausheet anu the final iesult coulu be vieweu instantly.

4.4 BREEAM!Scenario!One!Step!3!
Simultaneously, the BREEAN Assessoi upuateu the Cieuit Summaiy Table. The Cieuit
Summaiy Table was also a spieausheet uetailing each scheme anu each cieuit. This gave the
BREEAN assessoi ioom to make notes anu assign action wheie the BREEAN spieausheet uiu
not. This table was coloui coueu to give a quick oveiview as follows:
S2


Table!4!An!example!of!part!of!the!Credit!Summary!Table!

Cieuit Neeting 2S
th
Febiuaiy 2uu9
Comments
Cieuit
Status
0uestion
to BRE
N Nanagement
N 1 Commissioning Simple systems, Complex systems,
Seasonal Commissioning...

N 4 Consiueiate Constiuctois The contiactoi stateu that...
N S Constiuction Site Impacts The contiactoi stateu that...
N 8 Consultation The Besign Team confiimeu that 6
oi moie items listeu in the
compliance iequiiements woulu be
met...

N 12 Builuing 0sei uuiue The Besign Team have confiimeu...
N 16 The uevelopment as a leaining
iesouice
The Besign Team uo not intenu to
achieve this cieuit

BW Bealth anu Wellbeing
BW1 1 Baylighting The Besign Team confiimeu that 6
oi moie items listeu in the
compliance iequiiements woulu be
met...

BW2 2 view out The Besign Team have confiimeu...
!
!
4.5 BREEAM!Scenario!One!Step!4!
Scenaiio 0ne uemonstiateu that the uevelopment hau the potential to achieve a scoie of
61.8S% which tianslates into a 'veiy uoou' iating.
0nce the meeting enueu, the BREEAN Assessoi piouuceu a set of minutes within two weeks.
[BREEAM!Assessor]!I!go!away!and!produce!a!set!of!minutes!which!says!how!credits!are!
scored!and!how!they!will!be!met,!or!why!credits!havent!been!achieved.!!
SS

The minutes constituteu an executive summaiy, completeu Cieuit Summaiy Table anu the
BREEAN scoiing spieausheet. No fuithei infoimation was given anu no futuie meetings
aiiangeu to implement the next stage - Scenaiio Two.
Appioximately eight weeks passeu anu Stage E (uetaileu uesign) was being finaliseu. The Leau
Besignei suggesteu that Scenaiio Two be executeu befoie a 'uesign fieeze' was sanctioneu by
the Client Team anu the pioject team. 'Besign fieeze' is a teim useu within the inuustiy to
uesciibe a stop to the ievision piocess. Betaileu uesigns coulu no longei be changeu to ensuie
that the Contiactois (the builueis) coulu tenuei against uesigns that weie ieasonably fiim.
The following uiagiam consoliuates the steps taken in the implementation of BREEAN Scenaiio
0ne :

Figure!12!Scenario!One!Process!Flow!Diagram!
!
S4

!
4.6 BREEAM!Scenario!Two!
Scenaiio Two followeu the same piocess as Scenaiio 0ne, but with the emphasis of gaining
auuitional cieuits thiough extia effoit oi extia funuing. If cieuits 'seemeu' achievable then the
0uantity Suiveyoi was askeu to piice the options. As such, the BREEAN scoiing spieausheet
uiu not change. Bowevei, moie comments anu actions weie assigneu in the Cieuit Summaiy
Table. The minutes weie sent out two weeks aftei, whilst in the meantime the 0uantity
Suiveyoi hau piiceu the options.

4.7 BREEAM!Scenario!2:!Steps!
A meeting was calleu by the Leau Besignei anu the same attenuees weie inviteu. Piiceu options
weie piesenteu to the team anu uecisions weie maue.
Scenaiio Two uemonstiateu that the uevelopment hau the potential to achieve a scoie of
67.4S% which tianslates into a 'veiy uoou' iating. Please iefei to Figuie 6.!!
The Client founu this acceptable, as the auuitional S.62% woulu pioviue a contingency buffei in
case any of the cieuits coulu not be achieveu latei uown the line.
Piogiession to move foiwaiu then lay on the uesigneis to pioviue uocumentaiy eviuence of
each cieuit. At a high-level, this infoimation was being foiwaiueu to the BREEAN assessoi, so
that this coulu be collateu anu submitteu to the BRE. This stuuy uoes not focus on this pait of
the piocess.
Please note that a piocess flow chait has not been piouuceu foi Scenaiio Two as this ieiteiates
numeious elements of Scenaiio 0ne.
SS

4.8 Summary!of!BREEAM!Steps!taken!
In summaiy, the intiouuction of BREEAN appeais faiily stiaightfoiwaiu. Theie was an
aspiiation by the Euucational Institute to achieve a BREEAN 'veiy uoou' iating anu this was
'potentially' achieveu at the uesign stage. This meant the ceitificate was not yet issueu at the
time of the stuuy, anu the assessment ueteimineu the 'potential' BREEAN iating foi the
builuing. It was eviuent that the Leau Besignei oiganiseu meetings anu the feeuback
infoimation to the BREEAN assessoi. Two scenaiios weie caiiieu out to asceitain the potential
scoies with anu without applying effoit oi auuitional financial input. It was invaluable foi the
team to know that they hau alieauy achieveu a BREEAN 'veiy uoou' iating at the uesign stage
without auuing oi iemoving anything as any auuitional points woulu pioviue the pioject with a
buffei. A high-level evaluation of the piocess anu the inteiview mateiial has pioviueu a goou
platfoim foi the uiscussion of the themes pieviously iuentifieu.

S6

4.9 Discussion!of!Themes!
Thiee themes weie iuentifieu as pieviously mentioneu. This section aims to bieak uown anu
analyse these themes anu pioviue eviuence.
4.9.1 Knowledge!and!Attitude!about!BREEAM!
It is eviuent that the Euucational Institute uiu not know enough about BREEAN to be able to
implement it effectively on the pioject. As the Beau of Stiategic Pioject Bevelopment explains:
[Head!of!Strategic!Project!Development]!It!was!always!an!aspiration!for!the!<Educational!
Institute>!to!have!BREEAM!Very!Good!rated!buildings.!!This!was!a!corporate!and!strategic!
decision!which!was!made.!!However!it!hasnt!quite!filtered!through!to!grass!root!level.!!
This!is!an!internal!issue!that!we!hope!to!resolve!through!training!and!development.!
At the outset, this aspiiation was communicateu to all majoi consultants by means of the pioject
biief, upon which the consultants hau tenueieu. It appeais that the univeisity iequiieu
pievious expeiience of BREEAN fiom the Besign Team, but as these uecisions weie maue at
coipoiate level, the Client siue suppoit team weie left to familiaiise themselves with BREEAN
uuiing the piocess:
[Assistant!Director!for!Residences]!I!think!it!is!overly!complicated.!!Its!too!technical!
and!its!hard!tying!to!work!out!what!gives!you!credits.!!We!havent!had!any!BREEAM!
training!!that!is!the!disadvantage!here.!!Certain!people!are!more!expert!than!
others.!!!
[Head!of!Strategic!Project!Development]!It!seems!the!Architects!are!ahead!of!the!
game!on!this!and!we!are!all!trying!to!play!catch!up.!!It!shouldnt!be!like!this.!
0nly two out of foui Client iepiesentatives hau an iuea: of what BREEAN was, but hau no feel
foi what it involveu oi uemanueu.
[Deputy!Head!of!Maintenance!Project!Liaison]!I!can!try!and!guess.!!I!know!it!has!something!
to!do!with!ecology,!bird!boxes!and!trees!and!the!performance!of!buildings.!!I!know!that!the!
<Educational!Institute>!aspires!to!achieve!BREEAM!Very!Good!but!I!dont!know!what!this!
really!means.!!!
S7

Natuially, as a consequence, the Client Team uiu not view BREEAN in a favouiable light as they
stiuggleu to catch up anu sustain a level of unueistanuing to be able to communicate with the
Besign Team effectively on the topic of BREEAN.
The Client Team have tackleu BREEAN blinuly, without any uefinite knowleuge oi tiaining.
4.9.1.1 Attitude!towards!BREEAM!
Attituue can be uefineu as the appioach oi outlook that a peison might view a subject. In this
case, the Client instantly took a uislike to BREEAN because they uiu not know anything about it.
Buiing the inteiviews, when askeu about theii view of the BREEAN piocess, a numbei of
negative aujectives weie useu foi example "Luuicious", "Bisappointing" anu "Boiienuous". The
Clients felt fiustiateu.
The Besign Team have hau pievious expeiience of BREEAN they unueistanu the system bettei,
wheie cieuits can easily be achieveunot achieveu anu exposuie to new technologies.
Aujectives such as "0seful" anu "Flexible" weie useu when uesciibing the BREEAN piocess.
[Building!Services!Consultant]!Projects!are!designed!to!try!and!incorporate!credits!using!
historical!projects!using!our!experience!we!know!where!and!how!to!achieve!other!credits.!!
It!helps!to!know!BREEAM!before!an!assessment!on!a!project!because!you!know!how!and!
where!to!achieve!the!credits.!
By anu laige, the moie people use the BREEAN piocess, the moie people inteipiet it anu cieate
a meaning of the system foi themselves. Even people who have not useu the BREEAN piocess
also cieate a meaning of the system foi themselves. It just happens to be pessimistic because of
the lack of knowleuge anu unueistanuing.
4.9.1.2 The!Clients!Lack!of!Knowledge!
Theie was no honest communication between the Client anu the Besign Team. It became
eviuent that the Client Team uiu not know what they weie uoing in ielation to the assessment
anu what they weie expecteu to contiibute. No inteinal tiaining was ieceiveu.
S8

The lack of unueistanuing of the BREEAN piocess causeu the Client Team to iely on the Besign
Team foi infoimation anu guiuance:
[Head!of!Strategic!Project!Development]!I!think!we!would!have!appreciated!if!the!Design!
Team!had!held!our!hand!a!little!more!to!guide!us!through!the!process...we!shouldnt!be!
coming!at!it!completely!unknowledgeable.!
This conflict shows that while the Client Team hau no BREEAN tiaining uue to inteinal issues,
the Besign Team weie expecteu to be moie accommouating of the Client's lack of knowleuge
anu unueistanuing. Theie was no contiactual obligation foi the Besign Team to euucate the
Client, but eviuently, this woulu have been the couiteous thing to uo. This was iecogniseu by
the Leau Besignei:
[Lead!Consultant!Designer/Architect]!In!hindsight,!we!should!have!introduced!BREEAM!to!
the!Client!Team!and!put!some!meaning!to!it!and!made!the!Client!aware!of!the!implications!
and!benefits.!!!
Bowevei, in this case the Leau Besignei 'assumeu' the Client hau some knowleuge anu
expeiience of the BREEAN piocess.
[Lead!Consultant!Designer/Architect]!I!assume!that!people!already!know!about!this!system!
and!that!the!presentation!would!be!giving!them!a!memory!refresher.!!!
The assumption leau to the Clients feeling fiustiateu, but they uiu not aii theii lack of
knowleuge anu the Besign Team weie left to assume that the Client knew about the BREEAN
piocess.
When askeu if the Client felt suppoiteu by theii coipoiation, the Client aumitteu that:
[Head!of!Strategic!Project!Development]!Corporately,!it!seems!we!do!not!understand!
BREEAM.!!There!isnt!the!right!level!of!support!here,!but!this!will!get!better!with!training!
and!development.!
This 'confession' pioves inteinal tiaining issues anu when askeu if any BREEAN tiaining was
pioposeu foi the futuie, the iesponse was "None". Theie is tension heie because the Besign
Team weie expecteu to compensate foi the ueficiencies of the Client's coipoiations failuie to
flag oi iecognise inteinal tiaining iequiiements.
S9

The Clients own fiustiations with theii coipoiation, coupleu with an element of embaiiassment
left the Client with little choice but to look to the Besign Team foi assistance. 0nfoitunately, the
Besign Team uiu not iecognise this anu the Client uiu not iaise it as a concein. Theiefoie the
Clients weie left to familiaiise themselves with the BREEAN piocess foi themselves.
4.9.2 The!Ownership!of!BREEAM!!
A topic which continueu to be iefeiieu to thioughout the inteiview piocess was the lack of
owneiship of BREEAN. In this scenaiio, owneiship can be uefineu as iesponsibility foi the
BREEAN piocess anu accountability to the Client. Who is iesponsible foi the BREEAN piocess
anu who is answeiable to whom. A cential issue in the pioject involveu the unceitainty as to
who was iesponsible. As the Beau of Stiategic Pioject Bevelopment explaineu:
[Head!of!Strategic!Project!Development]!I!dont!even!know!who!should!be!driving!it!and!
who!takes!the!lead?!!It!seems!that!nobody!is!fully!proficient!in!it.!!!
The!requirement!for!BREEAM!rated!buildings!is!in!the!initial!project!brief!and!the!strategic!
brief,!but!there!seems!to!be!no!ownership!for!the!entire!process?!
The Client expects ioles anu iesponsibilities of following the BREEAN piocess to be explicit anu
this is not an unfaii uemanu. But they aie also asking foi someone to be accountable. Cuiiently,
theie is little guiuance fiom the BRE on owneiship oi on conuucting the assessments.
[BREEAM!Assessor]!The!BRE!dont!tell!you!how!to!conduct!the!assessments,!they!only!give!
you!the!tools!to!carry!out!the!assessment!and!the!understanding!of!how!they!work.!
In this paiticulai case, the Leau Besignei took the leau in initiating the BREEAN piocess,
oiganising meetings anu communicating with the BREEAN Assessoi, but this was not
necessaiily his iesponsibility. At the BREEAN Pie-assessment meeting the BREEAN Assessoi
suggesteu that someone shoulu be nominateu within the team to 'champion' the system. A
'champion' in this sense means someone to uiive the BREEAN piocess.
[BREEAM!Assessor]!Its!good!to!have!a!focal!contact!on!the!project!so!all!the!information!
required!to!satisfy!credits!is!collated!by!one!person!and!sent!to!us!as!a!whole.!!!
6u

The Leau Besignei willingly kept uniesolveu BREEAN issues at the foiefiont of the Besign
Teams minus. The Leau Besignei also iepoiteu back to the Client when necessaiy anu auviseu
the Client on any piogiess.
The point is that no one seems to be awaie that the Leau Besignei has taken on this iole anu
theiefoie, theie is little sense of uiiection within the team on who to tuin to foi BREEAN ielateu
queiies anu auvice.
The BRE uiu not auvise of the best peison to champion BREEAN. The Leau Besignei took the
leau in this scenaiio: unfoitunately it was assumeu that eveiyone knew this.
4.9.2.1 The!Ownership!of!Actions!
Inuiviuual team membeis neeu uiiection to be able to piogiess actions. An action is an activity
that someone takes iesponsibility foi to piogiess outsiue a meeting. ueneially, these aie
iecoiueu within the meeting by a chaiipeison.
In the case of Scenaiio Two, wheie moie uetail anu infoimation was iequiieu, the actions weie
loggeu in the Cieuit Summaiy Table 'Comments' section.
![BREEAM!Assessor]!Its!best!to!really!have!a!responsibility!column!in!the!minutes!to!put!an!
emphasis!on!a!certain!person.!
The BREEAN Assessoi agiees that a iesponsibility column shoulu be auueu to the Cieuit
Summaiy Table which only maue piovision foi a 'comments' column. Bowevei, on checking the
meeting minutes containing the Cieuit Summaiy Table, it became eviuent that actions weie
mixeu in with geneial comments anu theie was no uistinctive iesponsibility column. An
example fiom the Cieuit Summaiy Table 'comments' column follows:
All!car!park,!waste!disposal!facilities,!deliveries!and!plant!areas!to!have!oil!interceptors.!!
Design!Team!to!check!and!confirm.!!Credit!assumed!at!this!time.!
As quoteu below, the consequences of this was fiustiation amongst all of the team membeis
that no one knew what they weie uoing:
61

![Building!Services!Consultant]!On!past!projects!we!had!a!simple!table!with!the!list!of!
credits!and!the!ownership.!You!can!see!the!list!of!action!and!who!needs!to!provide!
evidence.!Instead!we!have!been!given!a!massive!thick!wad!of!paper![the!assessment]!with!
no!real!allocation!of!ownership!to!achieve!the!credits.!!!
[Quantity!Surveyor]!No!one!took!the!lead!to!tell!me!what!action!I!had!to!complete.!
[Assistant!Director!for!Residences]!It!seems!a!bit!vague,!continuously!open!to!reassessment!
and!no!one!owned!any!aspects.!!!
Actions weie not cleaily iepiesenteu by the BREEAN Assessoi. This lack of claiity iesulteu in
aggiavateu feelings about the way BREEAN was being manageu on the pioject.
4.9.3 Decisions!
ueneially, on a pioject, the way to make piogiess is to take action anu make uecisions. A
uecision is a choice, a veiuict oi a foim of iesolution anu theie aie ceitain people who have the
powei to make these uecisions. This is usually cleai fiom the onset. In this case, theie aie two
uecision making teams: the Client anu the Besign Team. It is eviuent that they peiceive one
anothei as the uecision makeis anu uiu not view this piocess as a joint collaboiative exeicise.
Feelings of uisappointment weie felt on both siues.
[Lead!Designer]!All!of!the!consultants!influenced!the!decisions!in!different!ways!but!it!was!
ultimately!the!Clients!decision.!!!!
[Structural!Engineer]!I!believe!the!Architect!and!M&E!Engineer!made!the!final!decisions.!
[Quantity!Surveyor]!The!M&E!Engineer!knew!most!about!it!and!his!advice!made!sense,!so!
we!tended!to!go!with!those!decisions.!!!
[Coordinator!for!Residential!and!Commercial!Services]!The!Design!Team!made!the!
decisions!and!we!were!guided!by!the!BREEAM!Assessor!into!certain!decisions!by!their!
experience.!!!
[Head!of!Strategic!Project!Development]!There!is!an!element!of!research!to!be!done!to!
justify!new!technologies!to!the!Client,!showing!us!the!benefits!and!providing!us!with!
enough!information!to!make!decisions.!!There!is!an!element!of!trust!here.!
The majoiity of the Client Team believeu that the Besign Team weie making the uecisions anu
the Cooiuinatoi foi Resiuential anu Commeicial Seivices anu the Beau of Stiategic Pioject
Bevelopment hau contiauictoiy views on whom the uecision makei was. So who was making
62

the uecisions. It is most common on a pioject foi the Client to make the final uecision on
whethei a cieuit can be achieveu oi not.
A gieat ueal of tiust was put into the uesigneis in guiuing the Client to the iight solution best foi
them, as pait of attaining a BREEAN 'veiy uoou' iating. Bowevei, the Client uiu not feel that
theii piefeiieu sustainable options weie taken foiwaiu:
[Project!Coordinator!for!Residential!and!Commercial!Services]!I!was!really!disappointed!
that!we!didnt!get!to!use!sustainable!materials!because!the!points!were!very!hard!to!
achieve!so!it!was!ruled!out.!
[Nadia!Butt]!Who!ruled!it!out?!
[Project!Coordinator!for!Residential!and!Commercial!Services]!The!architects!and!the!
BREEAM!assessors!said!that!we!wouldnt!be!able!to!achieve!it.!
This shows that uecisions maue ielating to the Client's uesiieu options weie iuleu out by the
Besign Team anu these uecisions weie simply 'accepteu' by the Client.
0n the othei hanu, the Leau Besignei felt confuseu by the lack of authoiity in uecision making:
[Lead!Designer]!They!could!have!had!more!aspiration!and!pushed!harder.!!I!felt!they!only!
did!the!minimum!
The majoiity of the Client Team believeu the Besign Team to be making all of the uecisions, yet
the Besign Team believeu they weie only auvising the Client anu that the Client woulu
ultimately make the final uecision. The Client Team felt that they weie not in contiol of the
situation because of theii minimal expeiience of this piocess.
[Assistant!Director!for!Residences]!We!didnt!have!any!technical!expertise!or!experience!on!
certain!things,!so!there!were!a!lot!of!things!we!couldnt!control.!!
This iesulteu in theii lack of confiuence to make moie uemanus on the Besign Team. In the
meantime, the Client claimeu to encouiage the Besign Team to push bounuaiies.
[Assistant!Director!for!Residences]!There!were!a!couple!of!options!which!we!were!trying!to!
push!the!Design!Team!to!consider,!for!example!we!wanted!photovoltaics!to!be!considered,!
but!the!project!team!decide!that!it!was!too!expensive!and!too!complex!to!implement!and!
the!choice!was!to!achieve!credits!in!other!ways!because!this!option!wasnt!cost!effective.!
6S

The limitation of finance causeu uisappointment to the Client. The Besign Team felt that the
Client was not being innovative enough, but the Client was caught wanting to make the pioject a
unique uevelopment anu the buugets allocateu to them to spenu on the pioject.
[Assistant!Director!for!Residences]!We!can!push!the!boundaries!as!much!as!we!want,!but!
its!always!down!to!cost.!
[Project!Coordinator!for!Residential!and!Commercial!Services]!Even!though!we!wanted!to!
build!a!super"duper!environmentally!friendly!zero!carbon!building,!we!couldnt!because!we!
couldnt!afford!it.!
This seems to have causeu conflict between who was peiceiveu to be uiiving the BREEAN
piocess on the pioject anu who actually was the final uecision makei.
No cleai uecision makei was uefineu. This iesulteu in confusion about why ceitain aspects
weie not being investigateu fuithei oi why the Euucational Institute uiu not aim highei to
achieve a highei BREEAN iating.

4.10 Summary!!
At this point of the uisseitation thiee themes weie iuentifieu which chaiacteiiseu the BREEAN
piocess on the uevelopment of a highei Euucational Institute.
Fiistly, the Client Team uiu not have enough knowleuge about BREEAN anu theiefoie the iight
attituue to be able to use BREEAN efficiently. It was asceitaineu that the Clients hau no
pievious expeiience oi foimal BREEAN tiaining. The Clients own fiustiations at theii lack of
knowleuge of BREEAN uncoveieu inteinal issues. The Clients weie expecteu commit to a
system that they knew veiy little about.
Seconuly, no 'ownei was iuentifieu to manage the BREEAN piocess. Although the Leau
Besignei took it upon himself to oiganise meetings, no one took notice that a focal point of
contact was iequiieu foi the BREEAN piocess. Foi this ieason, the BREEAN piocess was not
64

manageu efficiently as no one knew what they weie uoing, actions weie not efficiently assigneu
oi competeu anu theie weie geneial feelings of fiustiation.
Finally, theie was no single peison iesponsible foi the uecision making which seems to have
been passeu to anu fio between the Client Team anu the Besign Team.

! !
6S

!
5 Interpretation!and!Lessons!Learnt!
!

The empiiical baseu finuings in the pievious chaptei iuentifieu a numbei of themes. This
chaptei iecognises the iequiiements of those themes anu elaboiates fuithei that tiaining is
stiongly auviseu foi people will no expeiience of the BREEAN piocess. Acknowleugement is
also iequiieu foi the cleai assignment of tasks anu theii iespective completion. Anu finally that
infoimeu uecisions can be maue to achieve the highest BREEAN iating.

5.1 Knowledge!and!Attitude!
This section aims to uiscuss the effect of knowleuge anu attituue on the BREEAN piocess anu
how this coulu have affecteu the final iesult of the assessment.
As pieviously iuentifieu, attituues towaius the BREEAN piocess vaiy with knowleuge about the
system anu past expeiiences of using this tool. It is assumeu that the piocess will become
'ioutine'.
[Head!of!Strategic!Project!Development]!In!time!it!will!become!routine!
The Client Team have 'an expeiience' of the BREEAN piocess anu theii knowleuge anu attituue
towaius it may change anu be built upon on new piojects moving foiwaiu. This may encouiage
ueuication anu obligation fiom the Client Team to implementing BREEAN on othei piojects. In
this case, the Besign Team alieauy hau numeious 'expeiiences' anu hau alieauy come to
appieciate what they weie iequiieu to uo to achieve the BREEAN 'veiy uoou' iating. The Client
Team anu the Besign Team hau uiffeient levels of unueistanuing of the BREEAN piocess.
[Head!of!Strategic!Project!Development]!It!seems!the!designers!are!ahead!of!the!game!on!
this!and!we!are!all!trying!to!play!catch!up.!!It!shouldnt!be!like!this.!
66

It can be assumeu that the Client Team uiu not ielay theii neeu foi assistance in feai of
embaiiassment in fiont of the Besign Team.
5.1.1 Experience!of!the!Client!
The moie expeiience the Client Team have with the BREEAN piocess, the closei they may
become to ieaching the same level of unueistanuing anu appieciation as the Besign Team.
Although the level of knowleuge between a Client Team anu a Besign Team may be compaiable,
opinions, thoughts anu feelings about ceitain aspects oi featuies will be uiffeient. It seems that
the Client Teams neeus weie just as impoitant as the instiumental iesults of the BREEAN
piocess. This also incoipoiates the 'haiu anu soft' theoiy uiscusseu eailiei in chaptei 2. Foi
example the Beputy Beau of Naintenance Pioject Liaison may not like a ceitain type of boilei
because they aie costly anu uifficult to maintain, but it meets all of the enviionmental
cieuentials. Bowevei, because he uoes not 'like' it, it will nevei be an option on piojects he will
woik on, unless he can be convinceu otheiwise that they aie not costly oi uifficult to maintain.
The 'voice' of the Beputy Beau of Naintenance Pioject Liaison was heaiu in this case anu that
type of boilei was not selecteu. This pioves the theoiies by Ciawley anu Aho (1999) anu Cole
(1999) that the iesult of the enviionmental assessment is subjective to people's attituue, likes,
uislikes anu opinions. These views weie contenueu within the BREEAN assessment piocess.
In this scenaiio, the Client hau enough technical knowleuge about the boileis to have foimeu an
opinion, howevei, what about aspects that the Clients hau no pievious knowleuge of. The
Besign Team may have hau the oppoitunity to influence the options chosen by the Client eithei
with the Clients best inteiests in minu oi because it woulu be easiei to implement to achieve the
BREEAN cieuit.
BREEAN uoes not appeai to be as easy as picking cieuits fiom a menu of featuies anu uesigning
these into a uevelopment to achieve the uesiieu final scoie. 0ne of the uepenuencies that the
final scoie may have is on the status of knowleuge anu the views that the inuiviuual membeis of
each team have.
67

In this case the final scoie was achieveu, so lack of knowleuge cannot be assumeu to be the
failing of not achieving the uesiieu scoie. It uoes howevei, show that theie coulu be a potential
foi exceeuing the uesiieu BREEAN peicentage iating if the level of knowleuge was incieaseu
within the Client Team. This coulu ieuuce the conflict between what the uesigneis weie tiying
to achieve i.e. BREEAN 'veiy uoou' iating anu what the Client wanteu e.g. to install solai
theimal eneigy panels to inciease publicity anu maiketability of the uevelopment.
5.1.2 The!Need!for!Training!
The Client Teams knowleuge coulu have been incieaseu eithei by inteinal tiaining, oi by a
iequest to the Besign Team to piouuce a piesentation to intiouuce them to the BREEAN
piocess anu impait some theii knowleuge anu expeiiences of the system. This coulu have taken
place befoie the BREEAN Pie-Assessment meeting anu coulu have been the collective effoit of
all Besign Team membeis. Aftei the piesentation, the Leau Besignei may want to focus the
team by listing the aims anu objectives of this enviionmental assessment piocess.
The lesson leaint in this instance is that in oiuei to iealise the maximum BREEAN iating that a
uevelopment has the potential of achieving, eveiyone in the team may iequiie to have a ceitain
amount of knowleuge anu expeiience of this tool. If this is not the case then it may be beneficial
to iuentify the neeus of those without knowleuge anu expeiience anu have an oveiview
piesentation of the tool anu the piocess.

68

5.2 Ownership!
This section aims to uiscuss the lack of owneiship expeiiences in this case stuuy.
As can be seen fiom chaptei 4, wheie uata was available theie weie often issues about who was
uoing what anu who to tuin to foi auvice. This may assist in iuentifying anu allocating uiffeient
ioles of owneiship within the BREEAN assessment piocess. 'Who was uoing what' ielates to
inuiviuual owneiship of actions anu 'who to tuin to foi auvice' ielates to the ownei of the
piocess. This has been illustiateu in the following uiagiam. Please note that only the Level 1
anu Level 2 have been uiscusseu.

Figure!13!Levels!of!Ownership!
!
5.2.1 Level!1:!Team!Member!
It is vital to unueistanu who will action what. The lack of uiiection may have causeu team
membeis to not feel in contiol of what they weie supposeu to be uoing so that the assessment
coulu piogiess fuithei. The stanuaiu of assigning actions within the Cieuit Summaiy Table
appeaieu to be pooi anu vague.
69

Team membeis explain:
[Building!Services!Consultant]!On!past!projects!we!had!a!simple!table!with!the!list!of!
credits!and!the!ownership.!You!can!see!the!list!of!action!and!who!needs!to!provide!
evidence.!Instead!we!have!been!given!a!massive!thick!wad!of!paper![the!assessment]!with!
no!real!allocation!of!ownership!to!achieve!the!credits.!!!
Actions weie not easily iuentifiable fiom the Cieuit Summaiy Table piouuceu by the BREEAN
Assessoi anu no one has been assigneu any tasks:
[Quantity!Surveyor]!No!one!took!the!lead!to!tell!me!what!action!I!had!to!complete.!
The lack of action may have meant the lack of piogiess causing fiustiation as the assessment
may have appeaieu to be stagnant.
To auuiess the giowing uissatisfaction anu to help minimise confusion the BREEAN Assessoi
may be able to assign a sepaiate column ueuicateu to actions that neeu to be taken. An example
follows:
Table!5!Extract!from!the!BREEAM!Credit!Summary!Table!


Cieuit Neeting 2S
th
Febiuaiy 2uu9
Comments
Cieuit
Status
Action Action
ByBate
0uestion
to BRE
N Nanagement
N 1 Commissioning Simple systems,
Complex systems,
Seasonal
Commissioning...
To complete
xxx anu senu
to...
Nauia
11.uS.u9

N 4 Consiueiate
Constiuctois
The contiactoi stateu
that...
To senu xxx
lettei...
Baviu
1S.uS.u9


N S Constiuction Site
Impacts
The contiactoi stateu
that...

N 8 Consultation The Besign Team
confiimeu that 6 oi
moie items listeu in
the compliance
iequiiements woulu
be met...
Pioviue
eviuence...
Stephen
u9.u6.u9

N 12 Builuing 0sei uuiue The Besign Team
have confiimeu...

N 16 The uevelopment as
a leaining iesouice
The Besign Team uo
not intenu to achieve
this cieuit

BW Bealth anu
Wellbeing

New New
7u

This may give the team an oppoitunity to focus on what is iequiieu anu when it is iequiieu by,
incieasing the chances of goou levels of piogiess anu ieuucing fiustiation. The Cieuit Summaiy
Table is paiticulaily veisatile anu an appiopiiate place to iegistei actions as it follows a logical
sequence.
5.2.2 Level!2:!BREEAM!Champion!!
In this scenaiio, the Leau Besignei took the leau in calling meetings anu uiscussing BREEAN
ielateu issues because he may have hau pievious expeiience on othei uevelopments wheie this
woikeu effectively. Theiefoie, if the Leau Besignei knew the most about BREEAN, then he
coulu be best placeu to champion it. The BREEAN Champion woulu auvise the Client on issues
anu uiiect the Besign Team wheie neeueu anu collate eviuenceuocumentation to suppoit the
cieuits to senu to the BREEAN Assessoi. In this case, theie was no one to caiiy out such a iole.
This coulu piove auvantageous as the eviuence uocumentation woulu be eiioi checkeu anu
oiueieu befoie senuing it to the BREEAN Assessoi, ultimately ieuucing feeuback time. This
coulu then give the BREEAN Assessoi maximum potential to link cieuits anu look foi
oppoitunities to gain fuithei cieuits wheie appiopiiate insteau of being sent fiagmenteu
eviuence.
A Responsibility Assignment Natiix (RAN) coulu be ueviseu to accompany the Cieuit Summaiy
Table to inuicate who woulu be iesponsible foi what. A RAN is a table which uetails each
ueliveiable iequiieu uuiing the BREEAN piocess anu assigns each task oi activity to an
inuiviuual oi oiganisation. This woulu be especially useful because it woulu uocument
owneiship at all levels. An example extiact follows:

71

Table!6!Example!of!a!Responsibility!Assignment!Matrix!(RAM)!

!
KEY:!
A: Requiieu to take Action
R: Requiieu to be Responsible foi
aspect
C: To be Consulted
I: To be Informed.

The lesson leaint in this instance is that the maximum BREEAN iating may not have been
achieveu because theie was much confusion about who owneu what. Someone shoulu be
iuentifieu to be iesponsible foi BREEAN eithei voluntaiily oi nominateu. Also, inuiviuuals
shoulu be cleai about what they aie iequiieu to uo. Actions shoulu be iegisteieu within the
Cieuit Summaiy Table foi ease of iefeience.

5.3 Decisions!
The link between lack of knowleuge anu owneiship may have affecteu who maue the uecisions
ielating to BREEAN cieuits anu how they weie aiiiveu at.
The lack of knowleuge of the BREEAN piocess may have maue the Client feel neivous about
making uecisions on whethei oi not ceitain sustainable options ielating to BREEAN shoulu be
incoipoiateu into the uevelopment. 0thei consiueiations such as cost, affect to piogiamme,
lifecycle costing (cost of the piouuct ovei its lifetime), maintenance issues etc woulu most
piobably neeu to be consiueieu.
In auuition, the Client's peiception of technologies within the maiket may have affecteu the
uecisions maue foi this pioject:
[Head!of!Strategic!Project!Development]!Personally,!I!dont!believe!technologies!to!be!
advanced!enough!and!we!are!more!reluctant!to!take!things!up!because!there!is!no!
! Arrange!
Meetings!
Coordinate!
Meetings!
Collate!
Evidence!
Client! I
Architect! A C
Project!Manager! A C
BREEAM!Assessor! A C
Building!Services!
Engineer!
C
72

evidence!of!long!term!benefit.!!Some!options!are!just!not!good!for!the!scale!of!the!
academic!establishment.!
[Deputy!Head!of!Maintenance!Project!Liaison]!I!would!say!I!am!a!Dinosaur.!!I!do!like!solid,!
practical,!well!proven!and!time!proven!solutions.!
This shows the Clients lack of unueistanuing of new sustainable technologies anu although the
Besign Team piesenteu the benefits anu constiaints of each technology, the Client still appeais
to be suspicious.
The lack of knowleuge of the BREEAN piocess anu of sustainable technologies may inuicate that
the Client was uncomfoitable with making uecisions as a lot of input was iequiieu as a iesult of
theii lack of knowleuge.
It seems that on balance that the Client woulu always have the oveiiuling authoiity to instiuct
whethei a sustainable featuie is incoipoiateu oi not incoipoiateu into theii uevelopment. It is,
aftei all theii buuget anu theiefoie, theii uecision.
The lesson leaint in this instance is that theie is a challenge foi new Clients to BREEAN. Without
expeiience of the system anu knowleuge of sustainable technologies the Clients may not be able
to make well infoimeu uecisions leaving the iesponsibility of uecision making in someone else's
contiol.

5.4 Summary!Discussion!
To summaiise, in oiuei to iealise the full BREEAN potential of what a uevelopment is capable of
achieving, it woulu be useful if all team membeis hau an appieciation foi what BREEAN is anu
how it woiks.
To ieuuce confusion, the Cieuit Summaiy Table may be able to be bettei utiliseu to ensuie
eveiyone knows what they aie uoing anu foi ease of iefeience accompanieu by the nomination
oi voluntaiy nomination of a BREEAN champion.
7S

The iesult of tiaining anu consequently the incieaseu involvement in the BREEAN piocess may
inciease the uecision making powei by the Client anu mean that they aie happiei with the
uecisions maue on theii pioject.
The effective application of enviionmental assessment methous may fuithei encouiage the use
of sustainable constiuction elements uue to auequate knowleuge about BREEAN. BREEAN
appeais to be a vehicle foi the ueliveiy of sustainable constiuction.

74

!
6 Conclusions!and!Recommendations!
!
6.1 Conclusion!
The title foi this uisseitation is "The implementation of the BREEAN piocess in an Euucational
Institute." The initial oveiall aims anu objectives weie as follows:
! Intiouuce BREEAN to the ieauei within the context of sustainability.
! Iuentify the methou in which the stuuy will be conuucteu.
! Collect uata thiough the appiopiiate methous.
! Bighlight anu analyse a numbei of themes within the uata.
! Bemonstiate what is iequiieu to ease the challenges faceu.
Fiistly, the context of BREEAN was set within the fielu of sustainable uevelopment anu
constiuction. The ielevance of enviionmental assessment methous was evaluateu, anu then
BREEAN was finally set within a context. Infoimation about the implementation of BREEAN
was gatheieu fiom fiist-hanu expeiience anu a numbei of uocuments, namely the minutes of
the BREEAN meeting in this case. In auuition to this numeious inteiviews weie helu with
membeis of the team who weie anu weie not involveu in the BREEAN piocess.
As this piogiesseu, the stuuy became moie uefineu anu focuseu specifically on thiee key
themes. These weie the knowleuge anu attituue of the Client Team, owneiship of the BREEAN
piocess anu finally uecision making.
Fuithei investigation of these themes concluues that:
! BREEAN is best implementeu with expeiienceu team membeis.
! Team membeis with no expeiience iequiie tiaining.
! The BREEAN piocesses may iequiie a 'managei' - the BREEAN champion.
! Nembeis of the team iequiie cleai uiiection as to theii iesponsibilities in this piocess.
7S

To concluue, these points suggest that foi the effective peifoimance of BREEAN at an
Euucational Institute, a management piocess oi piotocol is iequiieu to be uevelopeu foi the
effective implementation of this enviionmental assessment methou.

6.2 Recommendations!
0sing the finuings of this stuuy, the iecommenuation woulu be foi the uevelopment of a
'BREEAN Piotocol' - a numbei of steps aie iequiieu foi the effective implementation of
BREEAN at an Euucational Institute. This woulu pioviue the Euucational Institute with a step
by step guiue.
Fiistly, this woulu uefine teims such as 'gieen' anu 'sustainable'.
Seconuly, this woulu uetail a sequence of events that woulu be iequiieu to take place at eveiy
stage of the pioject lifecycle encapsulating the BREEAN piocess.
Thiiuly, this woulu be accompanieu by a Responsibility Assignment Natiix (RAN) claiifying
who is iequiieu to take action, who is accountable foi BREEAN on the pioject, who shoulu be
consulteu anu who shoulu be infoimeu of BREEAN ielateu infoimation.
Finally, this stuuy has the potential to iuentity concuiient themes anu challenges within othei
piojects. A suite of BREEAN piotocols coulu be wiitten with the intention of aiuing anu
assisting the smooth execution of BREEAN oi othei enviionmental assessment methous.




76

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! !
8u

Appendices!
Appendix!A!!BREEAM!Scoring!Spreadsheet!
Appendix!B!!Interview!Prompt!Sheet!
Appendix!C!!Ethics!Information!Sheet!
! !
81

Appendix!A!!BREEAM!Scoring!Spreadsheet!! ! !!!!!!!!!!!!!Part!1!of!3!
!
!
82

Appendix!A!!BREEAM!Scoring!Spreadsheet!! ! !!!!!!!!!!!!!Part!2!of!3!
!
! !
8S

Appendix!A!!BREEAM!Scoring!Spreadsheet!! ! !!!!!!!!!!!!!Part!3!of!3!
!
! !
84

Appendix!B!!Interview!Prompt!Sheet
Background!
1. What uo you uo at the Euucational Institute.
2. What uo you uo in this job.
BREEAM!on!the!Project!
S. Weie you at all involveu in the assessment piocess.
4. If you weien't involveu, who was.
S. Shoulu some people have been involveu that weien't.
6. What uiu you uo in the assessment.
7. What uo you think about the assessment piocess
8. What uo you think about the way BREEAN was conuucteu on the pioject.
9. Weie theie any uiffeiences in the way that piojects aie noimally conuucteu.
1u. Weie theie any changes to youi job. Extia woik. Bow uiu you feel. Was it woith it.
Weie you suppoit by youi line managei.
11. Was BREEAN caiiieu out in the way it shoulu have been.
12. What uiu you contiibute to the piocess.
1S. What uo you think about the featuies selecteu on the pioject.
14. Bas the management of the pioject uiffeieu in any way.
1S. Who maue the uecisions.
16. Weie these the iight uecisions. Why uo you think they weie maue.
BREEAM!in!General!
17. Bave you useu BREEAN on othei piojects.
18. What uo you think of the tool baseu on youi expeiience.
19. What uo you think about what it is ueliveiing.
2u. What uo you think about the tool ueliveiing sustainable constiuction.
21. Aie we going in the iight uiiection.
22. Shoulu we be uoing it.


Appen
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