Tools for assessing the environmental performance and sustainability of building and civil engineering projects

Our previous papers to CESTs 4, 5, 6 and 7 charted progress in the UK construction Industry from early environmental awareness, through active environmental management of construction to recent progress towards the practice of sustainable development. In this paper, we turn our attention to a description of, and commentary on, the wide range of tools now available for the assessment of the anticipated and actual environmental and sustainability performance of building and civil engineering projects. These do not replace formal Environmental Impact Assessment under EU Directives, nor do they replace the process of Strategic Environmental Assessment. Rather, they are aimed either at helping decision-making at the outset of the project process or at assessing the performance of what has actually been built after design and construction is complete. The tools covered are: BREEAM, the Building Research Establishment's Environmental Assessment Method, which has been used to assess the environmental performance of both new and existing buildings since 1989; CEEQUAL, the Environmental Assessment and Awards Scheme for Civil Engineering projects, which was launched in 2003 and is applicable to all civil engineering projects whatever their size or type, and which is matched to each project being assessed by scoping out the questions that are not relevant to the project, so that only the remaining questions are scored.; and, more briefly SPEAR, developed by international consulting practice Arup, and the Defence Estates' Sustainability Appraisal process, both of which enable assessment during project development of the sustainability of proposed options; with references to websites for other available tools. The aim of the paper is to inform CEST participants about the availability of these tools, how in principle they work and their effect, so that they may consider using them themselves or seeking the development of equivalent tools in their own country. The availability and use of BREEAM and CEEQUAL, and the development and use of other assessment tools, demonstrates continued progressive improvement in environmental and sustainability performance of UK construction. These tools are still mostly voluntary, but all parties to the building and civil engineering industries - clients, designers, contractors and the supporting specialists - must make and continue to make substantial changes to past norms of working if we are to deliver on the UK's new sustainable development strategy, improve the industries' long-term future and help UK citizens reduce their environmental impacts while their improving quality of life.