Long before Sir Nicholas Stern described Climate Change as the greatest market failure that the World has ever known, the great economist John Kenneth Galbraith warned against conventional wisdom and the "tendency to associate truth with convenience, with what most closely accords with self-interest and personal well-being or promises best to avoid awkward effort". Few now doubt that Climate Change is the greatest threat that we have ever faced and that we must use every "weapon in our armoury" in order to defeat it.

In the UK, buildings account for some 50% of energy demand and some 40% of raw materials used. By 2016 the proportion of developed land is expected to rise from 10% to 12% which is higher than most other countries in the World. In this context sustainability of the built environment is critical to the nation and much can and should be done to encourage higher environmental standards. Since its introduction in 1990 BREEAM has sought to do just that through:

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