WELL Building Standard & BREEAM in Ireland — ELV & ICT Technology Requirements

Green building certification in Ireland is no longer just about insulation values and heating system efficiency. Both WELL Building Standard v2 and BREEAM New Construction have significant technology requirements that sit squarely in the ELV and ICT design scope — indoor air quality (IAQ) sensor networks, circadian lighting control systems, sub-metering infrastructure for BEMS compliance, EV charging, and occupancy analytics systems. For ELV and ICT consultants working on WELL or BREEAM-targeted Irish projects, understanding which credits have ELV design implications — and specifying the correct technology to achieve them — can make the difference between a target rating being achieved or missed.

This guide covers the BREEAM and WELL credits that most directly affect ELV and ICT design decisions on Irish commercial buildings, with specific focus on what needs to be specified, when, and at what technology standard.

WELL and BREEAM in Ireland — Certification Overview in 2025

BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method) is the dominant green building certification scheme in Ireland. Most major commercial developments in Dublin seeking investment-grade leases or ESG compliance target BREEAM Very Good as a minimum, with ambitious developers and institutional landlords targeting BREEAM Excellent. BREEAM assessors registered with BRE Ireland conduct assessments against the BREEAM UK New Construction 2018 methodology (with BREEAM Ireland updates).

WELL Building Standard v2 (published by IWBI) is growing in adoption among Dublin tech-sector office developers and multinationals with global WELL commitments (Google, LinkedIn, Meta have all specified WELL on Irish fit-outs). WELL focuses specifically on occupant health — air, water, nourishment, light, movement, thermal comfort, sound, materials, mind and community — with many credits requiring specific ELV and ICT technology to demonstrate compliance.

BREEAM New Construction in Ireland — Credits Affecting ELV Design

The BREEAM categories most directly affecting ELV design decisions on Irish projects are Health and Wellbeing (Hea), Energy (Ene), Management (Man) and Transport (Tra).

Hea 02 — Indoor Air Quality Monitoring and Sensor Infrastructure

BREEAM Hea 02 awards credits for monitoring indoor air quality pollutants in occupied spaces. For ELV and ICT designers, this means designing a permanently installed IAQ sensor network covering: CO2 (parts per million) in all regularly occupied spaces above a minimum floor area; TVOC (total volatile organic compounds) in spaces with significant furnishing or fit-out material off-gassing risk; and optionally PM2.5 (fine particulates) and formaldehyde for enhanced credit.

The IAQ sensor network integrates with the BEMS — sensors communicate via Modbus or BACnet to the BEMS gateway, which logs readings, triggers alerts above threshold values and provides data for BREEAM post-occupancy evaluation reporting. Sensor location and specification must be confirmed with the BREEAM assessor before design stage is completed.

Ene 01 — Energy Performance Monitoring and BEMS

BREEAM Ene 01 awards credits for energy performance levels above the Part L/NZEB baseline. The sub-metering design that supports SEAI NZEB compliance also supports BREEAM Ene 02 (energy monitoring) credits — with BREEAM requiring metering to individual end-use categories and logged data accessible for performance verification at post-occupancy stage.

Tra 04 — Low Emission and Active Travel Infrastructure (EV Charging)

BREEAM Tra 04 awards credits for low-emission vehicle infrastructure — directly linked to EV charging provision. The number of EV charging spaces and the quality of the charging infrastructure (AC Level 2, DC fast charging, OCPP 2.0 smart charging capability) determines the number of credits achieved. ELV consultants specifying EV charging infrastructure for Irish BREEAM projects should coordinate with the BREEAM assessor on the credit target before finalising the EV charging scope.

Man 05 — Aftercare and Building Controls Documentation

BREEAM Man 05 awards credits for building handover quality — specifically: a building user guide explaining the building's energy systems and controls; BMS/BEMS commissioning evidence; and post-occupancy evaluation process. The ELV designer's contribution to Man 05 is comprehensive commissioning documentation for fire alarm, access control, structured cabling and BMS systems — more detailed than standard O&M manuals, and structured specifically to support the BREEAM aftercare credit requirements.

WELL v2 Credits Requiring ELV and ICT Design Input

WELL Light — Circadian and Visual Comfort Lighting Control

Several WELL Light concept credits require ELV/ICT design input:

• L01 Light Exposure — Requires circadian-aligned lighting providing appropriate CCT (colour correlated temperature) and illuminance by time of day. Requires tunable white DALI lighting control with scheduled CCT changes aligned to the building's occupancy patterns and natural light levels.
• L06 Occupant Control — Requires individual or zone-level lighting control accessible to building occupants — DALI scene controllers or mobile app-based lighting adjustment per workspace.
• L07 Circadian Lighting Design — The most technically demanding WELL lighting credit: requires a circadian lighting design demonstrating that the spectrally weighted equivalent daylight illuminance (EML) thresholds are met throughout occupied hours, supported by tunable white DALI lighting at CCT ranges from 2700K (evening) to 6500K+ (peak morning circadian stimulus).

WELL Mind — Acoustic Sensors and Sound Masking

WELL Mind concept credits for acoustic performance include monitoring of background noise levels and potential specification of active sound masking systems in open-plan Irish office environments. The sound masking infrastructure — distributed speaker arrays controlled by a sound masking controller — is an ELV design scope item that contributes to WELL Mind credits in open-plan Dublin offices where privacy and acoustic comfort are key tenant requirements.

WELL Movement — Occupancy Analytics

WELL Movement credits for space utilisation require occupancy sensor data demonstrating that occupied spaces and active design features (stairwells, standing desks, collaboration zones) are in use. Occupancy analytics from the building's structured cabling and Wi-Fi infrastructure — desk booking system data, Wi-Fi device association statistics — can contribute evidence for WELL Movement credits with appropriate GDPR documentation.

Practical ELV and ICT Design Decisions for WELL and BREEAM

See our ICT consultant Ireland page for BEMS, structured cabling and IAQ sensor design, and our commercial buildings page for the full ELV design scope for Irish BREEAM and WELL projects.