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BEAM P
LUS FOR
N
EW
B
UILDINGS
F
RAMEWORK
V
ERSION
1.2
Copyright © 2012 BEAM Society Limited. All rights reserved.
Page 10
the earliest opportunity in the assessment process. It will then be
considered by the BEAM Assessor and, if necessary, submitted for
technical review to BEAM Society Limited. A ruling will be made to
accept, accept with defined modifications, or reject the ‘method
statement’, which shall be binding on the assessment.
In the event that an alternative approach is endorsed by the Technical
Review Committee, it will be incorporated in the guidance notes used by
BEAM Assessors, and in future revisions to the BEAM documentation,
as deemed appropriate.
I
NNOVATIONS AND
A
DDITIONS
BEAM Plus for New Buildings does not presume to be comprehensive in
its coverage of all performance aspects. Under the heading of
‘Innovation’, the Client is encouraged to submit proposals for the award
of credits for aspects not covered elsewhere in the BEAM Plus manual.
In these circumstances, the Client shall submit a proposal in which the
performance gains are demonstrated. BEAM Society Limited will
examine the validity of the proposal and, weighing the performance gains
against others covered by the scheme, award an appropriate number of
credits.
Whilst innovative design solutions are encouraged, they do not
necessarily justify credit. Innovation must demonstrate performance
gains, such as through improved efficiency and/or improvements in the
built environment. Indeed, it is expected that significant performance
benefits will be realised from full and proper implementation of sound
design, construction, installation, and operating practices.
B
ONUS
C
REDITS
These credits would not count towards the total number of credits
available, but would count towards the total of credits qualifying for an
award classification, i.e., innovative credits can be regarded as bonus
credits. Subsequent revisions of BEAM may incorporate such credits as
part of the core assessment, and they would then be counted within the
total number of credits available.
1.3.1 D
ETERMINATION OF
O
VERALL
G
RADE
The Overall Assessment Grade is determined by the percentage (%) of
the applicable credits gained under each performance category and its
weighting factor. Given the importance of S
A
, E
U
and I
EQ
, it is necessary
to obtain a minimum percentage (%) of credits for the three categories in
order to qualify for the overall grade. In addition, a minimum number of
credits may be earned under the category of Innovation and Additions
(I
A
). The award classifications are:
Overall
S
A
E
U
I
EQ
I
A
Platinum
75% 70% 70% 70% 3 credits (Excellent)
Gold
65% 60% 60% 60% 2 credits (Very Good)
Silver
55% 50% 50% 50% 1 credit (Good)
Bronze
40% 40% 40% 40% - (Above Average)
1.3.2 G
RADING A
B
UILDING
C
OMPLEX
After allowing for exclusions for particular circumstances, it is expected
that applicable credits under Site Aspects, Materials Aspects and Water
Use will not differ significantly for the different buildings that make up a
building complex. However, it is clear that there may be significant
differences in Energy Use and Indoor Environmental Quality aspects
between buildings which differ in operating mode such as; for example,
buildings that use central air-conditioning, as opposed to buildings where
natural ventilation may be utilised.
Centrally air-conditioned buildings can be expected to consume greater
amounts of energy, so the relative weighting for energy use as compared
with other environmental aspects can be higher than for buildings which