PRESS RELEASE – UKBA

November 2010

Sustainability becoming more important for SMEs

Sustainability is an important issue not just in terms of global warming and carbon footprint but in all aspects of humanity’s input to the environment. UK Business Advisors (UKBA) warns that many companies both large and small together with central and local government are insisting on their trading partners having ‘good green credentials’.

UK Business Advisors (UKBA) is highlighting the new ‘BREEAM In Use’ standard from The Building Research Establishment (BRE), which has established the international standards for environmental assessments. The BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method) standards have been used to rate new buildings for several years, but a revised version is now available. This enables companies to obtain a rating against three different aspects of their operations:-

•          The asset performance (i.e. the buildings performance)

•          The building management performance

•          The organisational efficiency

Assessments are carried out against a number of different criteria, energy, water, materials and waste, health and wellbeing, pollution, transport, and land use and ecology.

The assessment can be carried out on line by company personnel but a licensed BREEAM In Use Auditor will need to be appointed to verify the assessment and issue the certificate. The assessment is relevant to all non-domestic: commercial, industrial, retail and institutional buildings.

Geofrey Steward, a licensed BREEAM In Use Auditor within UKBA advises, “The BREEAM certificate enables the building owner and occupants to gain recognition for the building’s environmental performance ‘In Use’.  Help and advice is available from auditors. Completing the assessment will enable building managers to reduce the running costs and improve the environmental performance of existing buildings, adding to their competitive advantage”.

For full details visit the UKBA website www.ukba.co.uk or contact Richard Terhorst on 0845 009 5360