The new BREEAM New Construction Version 7 (V7) is released this week after an extensive development period. V7 provides an update to some of the key credit areas to bring them in line with the latest science and industry methodologies. It is a modular update that has a particular focus on energy and carbon, with greater links to a building’s net zero transition and climate change resilience, whilst also maintaining a focus on other areas including wellbeing and restoration of the natural environment.

Here we summarise some of the most significant update areas and their implications.

Lighting

Lighting credits have been reorganised so there is now consideration of both natural and artificial lighting, as well as the influence these have on an individual’s wellbeing through changes in circadian rhythm. Natural lighting considers daylighting, view out, glare and direct sunlight to windows with minimum levels of natural light required for Outstanding ratings. Artificial light covers internal and external lighting and its control, as well as a requirement to avoid flicker or stroboscopic effects. There is also a new credit covering the non-visual effects of light to promote positive impacts on the psychology and physiology of the building occupants by measuring the melanopic equivalent daylight illuminance at relevant areas in the building.

Energy

The most significant update to the energy category is the greater emphasis on operational energy performance, as is being seen across the wider industry. There are 12 credits available for predictive operational energy modelling and comparing this to benchmark energy use intensity values for the relevant building type. This is three times as many credits as were available under the previous version of BREEAM, demonstrating the increasing importance of this issue as part of a building’s net zero transition.

Another focus of the energy category is several credits looking at unregulated energy use for equipment, such as appliances and servers, and systems, such as lifts and laundries. In both cases the expected annual energy consumption is to be calculated and credits scored based on a ratio of unregulated to regulated energy consumption.

Energy management also has greater significance in V7. There are credits for installing systems with flexible demand response capability and also for installing controls that enable energy efficient operation of the building systems.

Water

A new credit relating to predicting operational water consumption is introduced. This is to encourage estimating the water consumption once the building is in use, based on occupancy numbers and patterns, rather than assuming standard figures. Additional credits are available for using this data to set water performance targets and monitoring against them.

Materials

The building life cycle assessment credit (Mat 01) has been revamped so it aligns with broader industry embodied carbon reporting methodologies, representing a significant step forward in reducing the environmental impact of construction materials.”

Credits are available for undertaking life cycle assessments at the early design stage (and creating a baseline with various options), technical design stage and post construction. Additional credits can then be achieved for performance against benchmarks, which have been developed in line with other industry benchmarks for specific building types.

Improved methodology and alignment with industry standards

There are a number of more minor changes not detailed in this article, including updates to the land use and ecology section to align the criteria with Biodiversity Net Gain legislation. Overall the major changes set out here are a significant improvement on the previous BREEAM methodology, providing greater alignment with current industry practices and a more useful way of assisting building design in its net zero trajectory and sustainability performance.

Registrations for the new version open in September 2025 but there will be a transition period where older schemes can still be used if required.