Case Study: From Hundreds of Pages to a BREEAM Credit Strategy in Minutes

Getting the big picture

The challenge: Getting the big picture

Starting a BREEAM certification project can mean receiving hundreds of pages of technical documentation from a client.

Before developing a credit strategy, assessors need to understand what the project already supports, where the gaps are, and whether the certification target is achievable. Manually reviewing this amount of information can take 2–3 days, while repetitive document analysis can also increase the risk of missed information and contribute to workload and burnout.

Sustainabot Quick Scan was designed to make this initial assessment faster and more manageable.

The solution: AI-powered Quick Scan

Quick Scan provides a general, AI-powered assessment of a project's certification potential.

The process is simple:

• 📄 Upload project-related documents

• ✅ Select the relevant certification scheme

• 🔍 Run an automated scan

• 📊 Review potentially achievable criteria and credits
  

Sustainabot analyses the available project documentation against the selected certification criteria without requiring assessors to manually assign documents to individual criteria.

Importantly, Quick Scan can also analyse images contained in documents. However, its image analysis is part of the broader project assessment rather than a dedicated, credit-specific investigation.

The result is a rapid overview that can help assessors:

• perform an initial BREEAM gap analysis

• develop a credit strategy

• identify potentially achievable credits

• identify missing information and evidence

• discuss the feasibility of certification with the client

• decide which credits and areas require deeper investigation

Saving days at the start of a project

Some BREEAM Assessors using Sustainabot tell us that spending around €100 for a Quick Scan is worthwhile if it saves them from spending two or three days manually reviewing hundreds of pages.

The value is not just the time saved. Quick Scan helps assessors focus their expertise where it matters, using AI to process the initial volume of information and establish a starting point for further investigation.

Transparent results, with sources

Quick Scan results are structured into three sections:

Assessment provides a concise evaluation of the selected criterion and can serve as a basis for further assessment or communication with BRE when the evidence is sufficient.

Reasoning explains how Sustainabot reached its conclusion and can help assessors identify additional information or documents to request from the client.

Sources lists the supporting documents and relevant page numbers, allowing assessors to quickly trace an AI-generated conclusion back to the original documentation.

This is particularly useful when working with lengthy technical reports, drawings and multiple project documents.

From Quick Scan to Deep Investigation

Quick Scan and Deep Investigation serve different purposes.

Quick Scan provides the general picture. It is designed to assess the project as a whole, helping assessors quickly understand its certification potential, identify potentially achievable credits and determine where further investigation is worthwhile.

Deep Investigation goes a step further. It performs a more detailed, credit-specific analysis, examining the available evidence in the context of an individual BREEAM credit. This includes dedicated analysis of drawings and images where they are relevant to the credit.

This makes Deep Investigation particularly useful for the mid and final stages of a certification project, when the focus shifts from understanding the overall potential of the project to building and verifying evidence for specific credits.

	Quick Scan	Deep Investigation
Purpose	General project assessment & strategy	Credit-specific deep investigation
Best stage	Early / pre-contract	Mid & final stages
Focus	Project-wide overview	Individual BREEAM credits
Document analysis	General analysis of project documentation	Detailed analysis in the context of a specific credit
Image & drawing analysis	Analysed as part of the general assessment	Credit-specific analysis of drawings and images
Typical use	Gap analysis, feasibility & credit strategy	Detailed evidence investigation & verification

AI designed to support BREEAM professionals

Sustainabot is designed to reduce the repetitive work involved in processing large volumes of certification documentation, while keeping the assessor in control of the final assessment and professional judgement.

The two-stage approach reflects how BREEAM projects evolve: first understand the big picture, then investigate the credits that matter in depth.

Sustainabot's work in this area was recognised in 2026 when it was shortlisted for the BREEAM Awards in the Digital Innovation category. Sustainabot was co-founded by Greenbors Consulting, a sustainability consultancy specialising in BREEAM, LEED and EU Taxonomy advisory.

For assessors, the starting point is simple:

Instead of spending days finding information across hundreds of pages, get the big picture first — then focus your expertise on the credits that need deeper investigation.

See what Sustainabot can do for your next project

Upload your project documentation, select your certification scheme and use Quick Scan to identify potentially achievable credits and areas worth investigating further.