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    Reference

    Sustainability & BREEAM glossary

    Plain-English definitions for the terms that come up in European real estate sustainability assessments and BREEAM certification.

    BREEAM

    Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method.

    The world's longest-established sustainability assessment for the built environment, launched by BRE in the UK in 1990. BREEAM scores buildings across nine categories (Energy, Health & Wellbeing, Management, Transport, Water, Materials, Waste, Land Use & Ecology, Pollution) and awards one of six ratings from Acceptable to Outstanding. It is the dominant green building certification in Europe, with more than 2.3 million assets registered across ~90 countries.

    BREEAM-NL In-Use

    The Dutch BREEAM scheme for existing, operational real estate assets.

    BREEAM-NL In-Use is the version of BREEAM In-Use operated in the Netherlands by the Dutch Green Building Council (DGBC), the national scheme operator licensed by BRE. It applies to existing, occupied buildings - offices, logistics, retail, residential, hospitality, healthcare - and certifies them every three years. The scheme has two parts: Part 1 (Asset Performance) scores the building fabric and systems; Part 2 (Management Performance) scores how the asset is operated.

    EPBD

    Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EU).

    The EU directive that sets minimum energy performance requirements for buildings across member states. The revised EPBD (2024) requires all new buildings to be zero-emission from 2030, mandates renovation of the worst-performing non-residential stock, and phases out fossil-fuel boilers. BREEAM credits can be used to evidence many EPBD requirements, reducing duplicate compliance work for portfolio owners.

    CSRD

    Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (EU).

    The EU directive that requires large companies and listed SMEs to report on sustainability matters using the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS). For real estate, CSRD reporting covers operational and embodied carbon, energy use intensity, water, waste, biodiversity, and climate-related risks. Certification data from BREEAM-In-Use feeds directly into several ESRS E1 (climate) and E5 (resource use) disclosures.

    EU Taxonomy

    The EU's classification system for environmentally sustainable economic activities.

    A regulation that defines technical screening criteria for what counts as a 'sustainable' investment. For real estate, an asset is Taxonomy-aligned if it meets specific energy performance thresholds (typically top 15% of national stock or near-zero-energy building level), does no significant harm to the other five environmental objectives, and meets minimum social safeguards. BREEAM credits do not automatically equal Taxonomy alignment, but several BREEAM credits map directly to Taxonomy DNSH (Do No Significant Harm) criteria.

    DGBC

    Dutch Green Building Council - the BREEAM scheme operator for the Netherlands.

    An independent non-profit established in 2008, DGBC is the National Scheme Operator licensed by BRE to adapt and operate BREEAM in the Netherlands. DGBC publishes the BREEAM-NL technical manuals, trains and licenses BREEAM-NL Assessors, runs the quality-assurance process, and issues certificates. Sustainix AI is an official DGBC partner.

    CapEx

    Capital expenditure - money spent on long-lived asset improvements.

    In a BREEAM and retrofit context, CapEx refers to the upfront investment required to improve a building's sustainability performance - HVAC upgrades, LED relamping, solar PV, building management system installation, facade insulation, EV charging infrastructure. CapEx planning is the bridge between a BREEAM gap analysis (what is missing) and an investment-grade roadmap (what to spend, when, and what return to expect).

    ROI

    Return on investment - the financial gain from a sustainability intervention.

    For retrofit and certification CapEx, ROI is typically expressed as simple payback period (years to recover the investment from energy savings), net present value (NPV) over the asset hold period, or contribution to rental premium and exit yield compression. Well-modelled ROI is what separates a sustainability wish-list from a CFO-approved investment plan.

    Gap Analysis

    A credit-by-credit assessment of what an asset needs to reach a target BREEAM rating.

    The starting point of any BREEAM In-Use project. A gap analysis compares the asset's current evidence and performance against the scheme requirements for a target rating (e.g. Very Good or Excellent), identifies which credits are achievable, which require additional evidence, and which need physical or operational interventions. The output drives both the certification timeline and the CapEx plan.

    Assessor-in-the-Loop

    An AI workflow design that keeps a qualified human BREEAM Assessor accountable for the final output.

    Sustainix AI's core design principle. AI accelerates the heavy lifting - parsing documents, mapping evidence to credits, modelling CapEx and ROI - but every output is traceable to its source document, and a licensed BREEAM Assessor reviews, adjusts, and signs off before submission. This preserves the rigour and accountability of human assessment while removing the manual work that limits portfolio-scale certification.

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