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Among the BRE's areas of interest are participation in the preparation of national and international standards and Building Code s, including the UK Building Regulations . The organisation is now funded by income from its commercial programmes, the BRE bookshop, contracted work, and by bidding for research funding from government and the industries it serves. It is also a UKAS Accredited Testing Laboratory. PROGRAMMES The BRE also owns and operates the BREEAM and EcoHomes environmental rating schemes, and promotes the German '' Passivhaus '' Ultra-low Energy Building standard in the UK. It also runs a number of training courses. BRE's sister company, BRE Certification, provides product certification services. RESEARCH Since privatisation there have been claims that the Blue Sky Research for which the BRE was well known has been compromised by commercial pressures {Link without Title} . In 2005 the Select Committee on Environmental Audit expressed their concern that there was a lack of significant funding for research and development of sustainable construction methods in the UK {Link without Title} , with funding for the BRE having been 'drastically' cut in the previous 4 years. As a result, many of the sustainable building materials used in the UK are imported from Germany , Switzerland and Austria , countries which have taken the lead in research in this area. OWNERSHIP The Building Research Establishment is owned by the BRE Trust, a are drawn from seven groups: built environment professionals, contractors, material and product suppliers, housing, university departments, building owners, building managers and building users. HISTORY BRE was founded as part of the status in 1990 before being Privatised by the Department For Environment, Transport And The Regions on March 19, 1997 {Link without Title} . SEE ALSO
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