BREEAM New Construction standard launched in U.S.

U.K.-based Building Research Establishment (BRE) has teamed up with architecture, engineering, and design firm HOK to introduce a new green building certification program to the U.S.

The new program, BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method) New Construction standard, will be piloted by HOK this summer. BREEAM rates the sustainability of buildings and infrastructure based on performance benchmarks.

BRE is bringing the new system to the U.S. after the successful domestic introduction of its In-Use standard, which allows owners of existing buildings to assess sustainability. BREEAM, with more than two million registered projects and more than 560,000 certified buildings in 77 countries, is the top global green certification program by volume.

BRE uses independent assessors to verify that the buildings meet BREEAM requirements. HOK will advise BRE as it adapts the system for the U.S. construction market.

New York City has two very large buildings dedicated to answering the 911 calls of its five boroughs. With more than 11 million emergency calls annually, it makes perfect sense. The second of these buildings, the Public Safety Answering Center II (PSAC II) is located on a nine-acre parcel of land in the Bronx. It’s an imposing 450,000 square-foot structure—a 240-foot-wide by 240-foot-tall cube. The gleaming aluminum cube risesthe equivalent of 24 stories from behind a grassy berm, projecting the unlikely impression that it might actually be floating. Like most visually striking structures, the building has drawn as much scorn as it has admiration.