Environmental Assessment of the University of Glamorgan - Essay Example

The BREEAM scoring is based on a set of categories and ranks are generated after the assessment of each category. “It includes assessment in nine different categories: Management, Health and Well-being, Energy, Transport, Water, Materials and Waste, Land Use and Ecology, Pollution, Innovation.” (Stubbins 2010) This rating system emphasizes the use of environmentally friendly building materials and focuses on the material and procedure used and adapted that cause the least harm to the environment. “BREEAM made major changes to the system, including introducing new environmental weightings, mandatory credits and the two-stage certification process, design stage, and post-construction.” (Yudelson 2009)

The University of Glamorgan holds a prestigious place in the field of education. Located in South Wales it has three campuses catering to local and international students with fields from all over the world. Its accommodation is rated as one of the best in terms of residency and facilities. The BREEAM rating for the University’s halls has always been over and above the passing rating. The old Glamorgan halls have always scored in terms of management, health services, energy conservation, and minimum pollution.

However, the newer halls of the university are more technologically oriented and have a better rating in terms of their BREEAM score. The University is currently introducing carbon reduction at its residential projects which will help reduce pollution. The accommodation planning at Glamorgan uses ideas of energy conservation and material usage to implement and adhere to the environmentally friendly regulations issued by the BRE. The accommodation uses automatic power shutdown to avoid unnecessary usage of electricity.

However, apart from the University’s eagerness to adhere to the BREEAM scoring and have a sound BREEAM rating, there are still some issues that need to be addressed. In terms of its environmental policy, there is a lacking of community involvement resulting in the inefficient management of water and waste. The University also needs to work on biodiversity and come up with newer and more innovative ideas. It needs to have a sound ethical investment policy to function closer to BREEAM requirements. The University actively supports Go Green Week but it has never received an award for which it needs to improve its student and staff involvement in eco-friendly activities.

Therefore, the University of Glamorgan has an impressive rating of BREEAM but a few more steps and actions are required to further improve its accommodation rating. Read More