Product category:
Building Energy Efficiency and Sustainability
News Release from: BRE | Subject: Part L of the Building Regulations
Edited by the Buildingtalk Editorial
Team on 04 October 2005
Part L confusion still abounds says BRE
David Strong, Managing Director of BRE Environment reviews the Government's plans for amending Part L of the Building Regulations.
The September 13 Ministerial Statement on the revision of Part L and implementation of the EPBD contained many encouraging proposals including the introduction of mandatory pressure testing and new methods of demonstrating compliance with design standards based upon Target CO2 Emissions Rates Yet, the long awaited announcement remained silent on the key issues of building energy labelling, plant inspection, and the requirements for the training and accreditation of independent experts
This article was originally published on Buildingtalk on 2 Oct 2003 at 8.00am (UK)
Related stories
Good Energy Advice Follows Alarming Report
Alarming results were recently published in a recent Which report investigating advice given to householders by heating engineers.
Industry Concern Over New Energy Initiatives
Delegates at a seminar held at BRE, voiced their concerns about the implementation of the EU Energy Performance of Buildings Directive.
Professional Institutions and Trade Associations are desperate to know how the provisions are to be implemented.
With less than four months remaining until the start of EPBD implementation, this is very worrying.
A key objective of the 2005/06 Part L revision was to ensure greater compliance verification.
Further reading
Free BRE Energy-efficient Refurbishment Seminars
BRE is running a series of free seminars for building control officers, architects, local authorities and housing associations on energy-efficient refurbishment.
Meeting The Demands Of A Sustainability Brief
Two, half-day seminars are being organised by BRE to provide developers, clients, designers and contractors with an overview of the principles of sustainable construction.
Unlocking innovation
The Innovation Discovery Programme helps construction industry companies gain greater commercial success.
And yet, the Part L revisions provide no clear definition of a 'suitably qualified person', with judgement as to the competence of the person carrying out an energy calculation or pressure test being left to the discretion of the Building Control Body.
Since there is still no clear definition of what constitutes a suitably qualified person and no specific requirements regarding training, qualifications, or the need to operate within an approved quality assurance framework, this is highly unlikely to deliver the improvements in compliance verification or enforcement which many observers consider vital.
Perhaps Building Control Bodies do not want objective criteria to be established which might then allow their own competence to be also objectively assessed.
Another concern is the postponement of proposals to improve the energy efficiency of existing homes when being extended.
The logic in the 2004 Consultation Document seemed compelling - if the living space of a dwelling was to be extended (and hence the carbon footprint increased) then the builder or householder would be obliged to install cost-effective energy efficiency measures in the existing part of the dwelling.
Widely supported by consultation respondees, the measure has been shelved, with ODPM proposing to undertake yet more consultation - if the proposal is eventually abandoned, this would be a huge missed opportunity to improve, over time, the energy performance of the UK's existing housing stock.
Also, many observers are surprised that conservatories under 30m2 are excluded from the new requirements.
It was widely anticipated that government would tighten-up on poorly designed and constructed conservatories.
The exclusion of conservatories will result in a substantially higher requirement for space heating and will further increase the sales of air-conditioning systems, to cope with summertime overheating.
The removal of key provisions from Part L and the absence of clear guidance on implementing the EPBD, will disappoint those who were expecting government to introduce measures which would deliver the 'step change' in energy efficiency specified in the 2003 Energy White Paper.
At the recent Gleneagles G8 Summit the Prime Minister called for 'urgent action to move towards a low carbon economy' .
It would appear that this call to action has not yet been heard by some branches of government!.
• BRE: contact details and other news
• Email this article to a colleague
• Register for the free Buildingtalk email newsletter
• Buildingtalk Home Page
Search the Pro-Talk network of sites
