Bordering the South Downs National Park in Horndean, Hampshire, the Horndean Care Village is a two-phase retirement village scheme incorporating a 60-bedroom best-in-class care home, 120 assisted living units and a wellness centre for care operator, Inspired Villages.

SRE’s sustainability specialists are assessing the development under BREEAM NC 2014 and are advising the client on how to achieve BREEAM ‘Excellent’. SRE’s qualified and accredited BREEAM AP was appointed during the early design stages ensuring key advice, knowledge and assistance was provided from the offset of the project. Simultaneously, SRE’s BREEAM Assessors are supporting the client in complying with the relevant criteria and achieving the required credits.

To recognise and encourage a healthy internal environment for both the care home and assisted living units, as well as to support BREEAM’s Health and Wellbeing criteria, an Indoor Air Quality Plan (IAQP) was provided. The Horndean Care Village is a residential development and therefore will be occupied for large periods of time. Additionally, due to the specificity of extra care units, residents are at higher risk to any contaminants and it’s therefore essential that the indoor air quality contributes to a clean and healthy environment.

SRE’s building physics specialists incorporated design measures into the report to manage risk, they assessed air tightness and they included a comprehensive zonal ventilation strategy to demonstrate how the development fulfils the prerequisite BREEAM requirements.