Opinion of tools

Name of the tool
BRE Sustainability Checklist for developments: A common framework for developers and local authorities

Positive comments about the tool
A number of tools were considered by Parsons Brinkerhof, the Environmental Consultants for the Llandarcy Urban Village case study, to ensure sustainability would be taken account of throughout the development of the project. The BRE Sustainability Checklist was found to be the most appropriate to the project because:
• it provides a final ‘score’ of sustainability.
• It was believed to be the most helpful to answer Welsh Assembly Government questions on sustainability of the project.
• It provided a “sustainability” score for land use, transport, energy, buildings, natural resources, ecology, community and business and provides reference material for benchmarks.
• the tool had been peer reviewed by relevant experts in the field, which provided confidence at all decision making levels of the project.
• use of the tool ensured that sustainability aspects are constantly managed and reviewed.
• Consultants for Llandarcy believe that the BRE tool is very effective at revealing requirements that need to be fulfilled which may have been overlooked, and for providing a strong sustainability framework and strategy to a project.

Negative comments about the tool
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