HQM green building certification

What is HQM?

HQM stand for Home Quality Mark, a green building label and certification programme for homes in the United Kingdom. It aims to provide homebuyers with a comprehensive assessment of the sustainability, comfort, and health of new homes. HQM applies only to residential buildings only and is awarded by the Building Research Establishment (BRE).

UK-based certification

HQM has been created to serve the UK’s house builders and the householders who buy and rent new homes. It helps house builders to demonstrate the high quality of their homes.

Number of certifications

Over 5.000 homes and 220 buildings have been certified under the HQM certification system. HQM is now expanding to Scotland and Wales.

Certification scope

HQM certification is available for homes with a scoring system based on points or stars ranging from 1 to 5 stars or 30 to 100 points corresponding to Pass, Good, Very Good and Excellent.

Evaluation criteria

These are the main aspects assessed by HQM:

Transport and movement – focus on public transportation availability and sustainable transport options
Outdoors – focus on biodiversity
Safety and resilience – risk analysis regarding flood and rainfall
Comfort – different aspects of the indoor environmental quality, such as thermal and acoustic comfort
Energy – energy efficiency of the building
Materials – responsible sourcing and life cycle thinking
Space – availability of drying space and recyclable waste storage room
Water – lower water consumption
Quality assurance – project preparation and commissioning
Construction impacts – responsible construction practices
Customer experience – focus on the post-delivery stage of the building and how information is provided to the occupiers

A numerical score with an upper limit of 100 points indicates the level of certification.

How to achieve HQM

The HQM certification process involves three main stages:

Design stage: the design team works with an HQM assessor to evaluate the building's potential performance. The assessor will provide recommendations to meet the certification requirements.
Construction stage: the construction team will work to ensure that the building is constructed to the specified standards.
Post-construction stage: after the building is completed, an HQM assessor will conduct a final assessment of the building's performance.

To achieve certification, the building or home must score a minimum of 30 points, which is the minimum required for a HQM Pass certification. The higher the score, the higher the level of certification. The maximum score is 100.