The Building Research Establishment (BRE) has launched the latest iteration of its globally-recognised sustainability assessment method for construction projects – BREEAM New Construction Version 7 (NC V7), a comprehensive framework for assessing and certifying the sustainability of new buildings.
BREEAM NC V7 integrates science-led metrics and global best practices on whole-life carbon, biodiversity, resilience, and material selection to empower developers, designers, and sustainability professionals to minimise the impact on the environment, improve efficiency and make assets more resilient.
The launch of BREEAM NC V7 comes at a significant time during the global climate crisis. In 2024, climate events caused over $368 billion in economic losses worldwide. Meanwhile, it has been estimated that climate change could result in $1.47 trillion in net property value losses owing to rising insurance costs and changing consumer demand.
Image: BRE Open Innovation Hub - FeildenCleggBradley Studios
The updated standard includes expanded whole-life carbon assessments which provide more rigorous operational and embodied carbon benchmarking, enabling asset owners, clients and estate managers to gain an accurate picture of an asset’s impact at every stage of its lifecycle and identify new opportunities for carbon reduction.
BREEAM NC V7 also incorporates improved climate resilience criteria – focusing on extreme weather preparedness and risk mitigation - and places a greater focus on biodiversity, ensuring projects contribute positively to local ecosystems.
Customers can align with EU Taxonomy criteria and the EU Zero Energy Building definition in BREEAM NC V7, ensuring that any BREEAM-certified buildings can meet or exceed European regulations.
Jane Goddard, Deputy CEO and Managing Director of Building Performance Services at BRE said: “BREEAM NC V7 comes at a time when sustainability is no longer just about compliance, but about the need to protect and enhance long-term portfolio value too.
“By strengthening BREEAM’s focus on whole-life carbon, including embodied carbon assessments, NC V7 provides a more complete and accurate understanding of an asset’s true carbon impact.
“We understand how important it is that building and sustainability professionals can demonstrate their portfolios are resilient against climate risks both now and in the future. NC V7 helps them do exactly this.”
BREEAM NC V7 customers will be able to utilise the new BREEAM platform to manage their certifications. The platform simplifies sustainability reporting by helping building owners and assessors capture asset-level data, track performance and compare insights across all their assets and portfolios.
Across 104 countries, there are more than 2.9 million BREEAM registered buildings and 1 million BREEAM certified buildings. As investors increasingly prioritise buildings with strong sustainability credentials, tools such as BREEAM enable building owners and developers to demonstrate their assets meet or exceed sustainability standards.
