Skip to content

BREEAM New Construction v7 – What You Need to Know

The Brookbanks Difference / News / BREEAM New Construction v7 – What You Need to Know

The Building Research Establishment (BRE) is preparing to launch BREEAM New Construction v7 in Summer 2025 — the most significant update in recent years. The changes strengthen the focus on whole-life carbon, resilience and operational performance, while better aligning with international sustainability frameworks.

For developers, planners and project teams, understanding these updates early will be critical to securing the right rating and avoiding rework.

Why the change?

BREEAM has long been the leading method for assessing building sustainability, influencing planning outcomes and investment decisions. With climate targets tightening and new demands for resilience, v7 aims to ensure projects deliver real performance — not just compliance — over their lifecycle.

Headline changes in BREEAM NC v7

  • “Simple Buildings” assessment type removed – all projects will now follow a full pathway.

  • Embodied carbon front and centre – Mat 01 weightings increased and applied more widely across schemes.

  • Predictive energy modelling required – new standards in Ene 01 & Ene 02 raise the bar for design-stage analysis.

  • Outstanding rating tougher – Shell-Only projects can no longer achieve Outstanding due to operational energy uncertainty.

  • Water use carries a carbon factor – linking water efficiency to whole-life carbon.

  • Revised weightings and rating boundaries – thresholds for Pass and Good lowered slightly; greater focus on energy and carbon performance.

What this means for your project

The changes will likely require more front-loaded planning. Early design decisions on structure, energy strategy and materials will be essential to meet higher credit thresholds. Coordination between architects, engineers, contractors and sustainability consultants will need to start earlier to avoid missed opportunities.

Our perspective

At Brookbanks, we see v7 as an opportunity to embed sustainability deeper into the development process. Our experience shows that early BREEAM AP involvement not only protects ratings but can also unlock cost savings, planning advantages and reputational benefits. As we are licensed by BRE to deliver BREEAM assessments and advice, we are perfectly placed to support your projects.

Meet our LDC Team

Dr Richard Boyle, Technical Director at Brookbanks
Technical Director, Land, Development and Communities Group

Dr Richard Boyle

Read Profile
Lee Witts, Group Director at Brookbanks
Group Director for Land, Development and Communities

Lee Witts

Read Profile
Mat Capper, Director of Utilities at Brookbanks
Director of Utilities

Mat Capper

Read Profile

More News

Back to News
An aerial view of houses surrounding a road featuring a roundabout

Integrated Acoustic Consultancy Services

May 19, 2026

Expanding our specialist services to include integrated acoustic consultancy strengthens how we support clients across the full development lifecycle. By bringing together building acoustics and environmental noise and vibration, we are able to provide a more coordinated and consistent approach to sound, from early feasibility through to detailed design. This article introduces our acoustics capability at Brookbanks, outlining the expertise within the team and the role acoustics plays in delivering compliant, well‑designed and high‑performing environments across a range of sectors.

Read More

The Risk of Stalling Healthcare Projects

May 12, 2026

The Risks Stalling Healthcare Projects There's a version of every healthcare project that looks deliverable on paper. The site sits within the right catchment. It's in the strategic outline case. The ICS has signed off on the clinical model, the design team have done something genuinely thoughtful with the brief, and the project team is cautiously optimistic about hitting the OBC submission window. Then the ground investigation comes back… or the highways authority raises a junction capacity objection that nobody reviewed thoroughly during site selection. Or the drainage strategy is finalised two weeks before the planning committee, and the mitigation required has discreetly added seven figures to a capital budget that is already full of assumptions. This might be “just how things are”, but it’s important to remember that healthcare projects carry specific consequences that a delayed commercial scheme may not have.

Read More