Corus has today announced the publication of a new technical paper - ‘An Introduction to BREEAM for pre-finished steel industrial buildings’ – which takes an in-depth look at this environmental assessment method, and provides specifiers, building owners and clients with a comprehensive understanding of the benefits of having industrial buildings assessed within the BREEAM scheme.

BREEAM (Building Research Establishment’s Environmental Assessment Method) is the UK’s leading and most widely used environmental assessment for buildings. Developed in the early 1990s, it is based on many years of construction and environmental research and is validated by input from the construction and property industries, the government and building regulators.

The BREEAM scheme is used to assess the environmental impacts arising as a result of an individual development at the design and post-construction stages. The post-construction review serves to confirm the interim assessment (done at the design stage) and, most importantly, that the ‘as built’ performance matches that envisaged at the design stage.

Corus’ technical paper focuses on how to achieve BREEAM ratings for industrial buildings. It also demonstrates how the incorporation of Colorcoat^® pre-finished steel into the specification for both roof and wall cladding systems can maximise the credits assessed under the energy, materials and waste categories.

The sustainable attributes of pre-finished steel roof and wall cladding systems can contribute to achieving a good overall BREEAM score, and given the synergy of pre-finished steel building envelopes with a structural steel frame (which is also highly regarded under BREEAM) the case for steel is clear.

Carlton Jones, Technical Development Manager of UK Construction at Corus Colors, comments: “The purpose of this paper is to give a clear overview of what BREEAM is and how it is assessed as well as providing guidance on how to achieve its ratings. Corus has a well-established reputation for providing specifiers with comprehensive advice and guidance to support the design and construction of the pre-finished steel building envelope. Working together with the Steel Construction Institute (SCI) we have endeavoured to explain BREEAM and how the specification of the building envelope forms an important part of the key issues that can contribute to a good BREEAM score.”

Copies of the Colorcoat Technical Paper: An Introduction to BREEAM for pre-finished steel industrial buildings are available to download from www.colorcoat-online.com.