BREEAM V7 Key Changes
Summary
BREEAM Version 7 (released in July 2025) is the next update of the Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM), one of the world’s leading sustainability assessment frameworks for buildings. BREEAM Version 7 represents a significant evolution in the way buildings are evaluated for their environmental performance, aiming to reflect the growing urgency of addressing climate change, resource depletion, and social equity in the built environment.
The focus of Ene 01 has transitioned from demand-based metrics to performance outcomes, providing greater flexibility in compliance approaches. New reporting outputs and evidence requirements have been introduced to support alignment with the EU Taxonomy. The new addition of ‘Ene 02 Prediction of Operational Energy and Carbon’, highlights the importance of predicting a building’s operational energy use and carbon emissions, with credits available for third-party verification of energy models. The scoring system now aligns with the methodology used in BREEAM In-Use and NABERS UK DfP.
There is a stronger focus on whole-life carbon assessments, taking into account not only operational energy consumption but also the carbon footprint of materials, construction processes, and building demolition or end-of-life phases. The LCA (Life Cycle Assessment) criteria has been thoroughly revised to emphasise the calculation and reporting of embodied carbon across various stages of a building’s lifecycle. New credits have been introduced, now requiring LCA assessments at the concept design, technical design, and as-built stages. Credits are awarded based on performance relative to embodied carbon benchmarks. To achieve a BREEAM ‘Excellent’ rating, LCA and embodied carbon reporting will be mandatory, while the ‘Outstanding’ rating will require a minimum of five credits related to embodied carbon performance.
BREEAM Version 7 introduces a more comprehensive and progressive framework for sustainable building practices, making it more challenging to comply with than Version 6. The stricter requirements for carbon reduction, whole-life carbon assessments, EU Taxonomy alignment, and other sustainability criteria will necessitate more detailed planning, advanced technical solutions, and extensive documentation. As a result, projects targeting high BREEAM ratings will need to allocate more time and resources to meet these updated standards.
Introduction
Version 7 (V7) is the latest update to the BREEAM standards, designed to ensure the schemes remain current and aligned with the latest scientific developments and industry practices. BREEAM V7 streamlines the path to net zero by supporting buildings in transitioning away from fossil fuels. This version represents the first modular update across multiple BREEAM schemes, focusing on refining energy and carbon science. The initial updates apply to BREEAM International New Construction and BREEAM UK New Construction. This newsletter outlines the modifications introduced in BREEAM New Construction Version 7, emphasising alignment with industry decarbonisation goals by addressing operational, embodied, refrigerant, and transportation emissions, thus covering whole-life carbon throughout the building lifecycle.
Version 7 will supersede BREEAM 2018 and V6. All assessments from a certain point will have to be registered under V7.
Removal of Simple Building Assessment Type (UK Only)
To simplify the assessment of simple building projects, the BRE have removed the simple building methodology and definitions. However, it will still be possible to assess less complex buildings or those with limited services/features using a more flexible, issue-specific approach guided by filtering questions.
Introduction of New Minimum Standards
Several new minimum standards have been introduced to ensure that BREEAM Excellent and Outstanding buildings address the complete scope of Whole Life Carbon, including:
- Embodied Carbon assessment and benchmarking (Mat 01).
- Updated Operational Energy and Carbon benchmarks, requiring projects to complete Predictive Energy Modelling (Ene 01 and Ene 02).
- BREEAM Outstanding buildings must either use no refrigerants or assess refrigerant gases (Pol 01).
- Updated minimum standards for Water Consumption, now including a carbon factor to account for the full Whole Life Carbon impact.
Additionally, new Health and Wellbeing minimum standards have been set for Daylighting, and buildings will be required to have no fossil fuels combusted on site for an Outstanding rating.
BREEAM’s goal remains to drive sustainability improvements across the entire built environment; therefore, no new minimum standards have been added for a BREEAM Pass rating.
A notable change is that Shell Only projects will no longer be eligible for a BREEAM Outstanding rating, as they cannot accurately predict operational energy consumption. To address this, the BREEAM Fit-Out scheme is being developed to enable such projects to deliver sustainable outcomes based on actual, rather than projected, specification.
Weightings
As part of the V7 updates, the BRE are revising the country weightings to ensure they remain relevant, reflect local conditions, and align with best practices, while also accounting for recent changes to the criteria. These revisions aim to achieve several key outcomes:
- Increase the emphasis on Embodied Carbon, particularly for international projects.
- Maintain the significance of Health & Wellbeing criteria.
- Adjust the Energy and Carbon weighting to focus on grid emissions factors, supporting BREEAM V7’s shift towards building electrification.
Building Type
BREEAM has refined its building types to better align with real estate market trends, providing enhanced customer insights by ensuring that BREEAM reporting matches other data sources. This will also improve efficiency, enabling seamless data import and export for purposes such as ESG reporting, without the need for adjustments. Additionally, the building types will be standardised across the entire BREEAM lifecycle, allowing Predicted Performance at the New Construction stage to be directly compared with actual measured performance in the In-Use stage.
BREEAM Rating Boundaries
To strengthen alignment between different BREEAM lifecycle stages and support customers in closing the performance gap while enhancing sustainability across the built environment, BREEAM Version 7 will begin standardising its rating boundaries. This will be implemented in two phases:
- New Construction: The rating boundaries have been adjusted to provide consistent gaps between ratings, with Pass and Good ratings each lowered by 5%.
- In-Use: The Acceptable rating will be removed in Version 7, and the Pass rating boundary will be gradually aligned with New Construction over Versions 7 and 8.
EU Taxonomy
The EU Taxonomy is a classification system established by the European Union to help define which economic activities can be considered environmentally sustainable. It forms part of the European Green Deal which aims to transform the European Union and the wider European economy into a sustainable and climate-neutral society by 2050. Large companies, banks and insurance companies operating in the EU, as well as companies with securities listed on EU regulated markets need to demonstrate that their economic activities make a substantial contribution towards achieving one of the six objectives, whilst doing no significant harm to the other five. This is achieved by complying with technical screening criteria and minimum safeguards.
BREEAM provides a comprehensive assessment of the sustainability of buildings. BREEAM addresses issues that span across all six of the EU Taxonomy’s environmental objectives and beyond. The majority of technical screening criteria for construction and real estate activities in the EU Taxonomy are embedded in BREEAM Version 7. A BREEAM assessment can show the level of an asset’s alignment with technical screening criteria, providing companies and stakeholders in financial markets with assurance of the extent to which the asset meets the requirements of EU Taxonomy. Where additional evidence is necessary to demonstrate EU Taxonomy compliance, these requirements are detailed in the Schedules of Evidence.
New Credits
Six new credits have been introduced in Version 7; these are as follows:
- Hea 01: Natural light
- Hea 02: Artificial light
- Hea 03: Non-visual effects of light
- Ene 07: Flexible demand response
- Ene 08: Installed controls
- Wat 05: Prediction of operational water use
Moving to BREEAM V7
By adopting BREEAM V7, building projects can unlock a wide range of benefits—environmental, economic, social, and regulatory—while also fostering innovation and resilience. The scheme supports compliance with emerging legislation and ESG expectations and helps future-proof assets in a rapidly changing world.
Key Benefits
Stronger Climate Action through Higher Performance Targets
BREEAM V7 introduces more ambitious benchmarks for energy efficiency and carbon reduction, supporting both operational and embodied carbon management. This helps projects contribute meaningfully to climate mitigation.
Reputation and Market Leadership through Up-to-Date Standards
Adopting the latest version signals a commitment to best practice and innovation. It demonstrates leadership in sustainability, which can enhance brand reputation and stakeholder confidence.
Deeper Insights into Design Performance
Enhanced tools and methodologies—such as energy strategy, estimation of unregulated energy uses and occupancy patterns, and post construction lifecycle analysis—enable more informed decision-making during design, leading to better long-term outcomes.
Enhanced Focus on Health and Wellbeing
The scheme places greater emphasis on occupant comfort, including improved criteria for daylighting, indoor air quality, and thermal comfort.
Alignment with Current Industry Practice and Tools
BREEAM V7 is designed to integrate more seamlessly with modern design workflows and sustainability tools, reducing duplication and improving efficiency across project teams.
- Integration with NABERS UK for Operational Performance
- Support for EU Taxonomy and Sustainable Finance
Improved Alignment with UK Biodiversity
BREEAM V7 introduces better alignment with UK biodiversity laws, making the process more straightforward for assessors and developers.
Key Considerations
Greater Effort Required to Maintain Previous Scores
BREEAM V7 introduces more stringent criteria across multiple categories, meaning that achieving the same rating as before may require additional documentation, design enhancements, and stakeholder coordination. This reflects the scheme’s evolution to meet higher sustainability standards. A comparative analysis on one of our projects indicates an estimated 8.5% reduction in the overall BREEAM score under Version 7, resulting in the project no longer qualifying for an Outstanding rating (including minimum standards).
Potential for Increased Costs
Potential for increased capital costs to meet the enhanced requirements, projects may need to invest in improved technologies and systems—such as advanced HVAC, certified renewable energy installations, or smart water management.
Additional Complexity for Achieving ‘Outstanding’ Ratings
The bar for achieving the highest BREEAM rating has been raised, requiring additional exceptional performance across the following.
- Natural Light: More rigorous daylighting standards may require changes to building orientation, facade, or layout.
- Fuel Use: Requirement introduced for an All-Electric Building Design.
- Energy: Enhanced modelling and verification (e.g., NABERS UK alignment) demand more detailed energy strategies.
- Water: Higher reduction of water consumption is required.
- Lifecycle Assessment (LCA): Projects must now conduct post construction LCA studies.
- Refrigerant Use: Tighter controls on refrigerants and their environmental impact require careful selection and documentation.
- Ecology: Requirement of hiring an ecologist during construction.
Reduced Scores for ‘Business as Usual’ Approaches
Practices that previously earned credits may no longer be sufficient under V7. The scheme now rewards innovation and measurable performance improvements, meaning that standard design choices may yield fewer points unless enhanced or substantiated.