Letters
EU law will bring in improvements about from a round robin email, appending the maintaining constant RH levels through the
The difficulty in having a debate on CIBSE Journal article without the final page, excellent hygroscopic properties of the mass
consequential improvements (CIs) (Hywel which tabulated the key aspects of the building, timber and unburnt clay finishes. Although
Davies’s letter, August, page 16) is that we don’t and how they compared with conventional no doubt there will be bigger fluctuations this
know the detail of what the UK government’s construction and PH standards. I was prepared winter, RH in the school has been around 50
proposals might have been, had they not been to ignore the whole thing, but now it has spilt per cent (+/- 2 per cent) since it opened in May,
withdrawn. onto the CIBSE Journal letters page (‘Not so and with no mechanical ventilation in sight!
If their proposals would have been exactly passive house’, August, page 16). We are very lucky to have an enlightened
in line with the draft recast of the Energy Passive design Acharacle certainly is; indeed client in the Highland Council who is paying for
Performance of Buildings Directive, they would the superstructure construction was delivered us to be involved for two years post handover to
have required CIs only in cases where ensure the building works as intended.
“major renovation” (defined as an We shall be delighted to share our
investment of at least 25 per cent of findings at the end of this period and
the building’s value) takes place. This equally happy in the meantime to
is a high threshold and would in effect arrange for CIBSE members to see
mean CIs were required only when a the building for themselves, before
building is being gutted. I think most rushing to judgment, or insisting
reasonable people would support this that we should get a whole set of
requirement. certificates.
On the other hand, if CI meant Howard Liddell, Principal
that every householder undertaking Gaia Architects
a modest home improvement would
also have to implement a raft of No ambiguity in advice
energy saving measures throughout The article ‘Keeping the legions at
the house, my view is that this would bay’ (August, page 40) comments:
be unfair. Indeed, the most likely “Document L8 from the Health
consequence would be to deter the and Safety Executive is not entirely
householder from undertaking clear about how frequently the anti-
any improvement in the first place. legionella cycle should be operated.”
Worse, it could be counter-productive This is not the case; there is no
in energy terms. For example, a ambiguity at all. Paragraph 158 of L8
householder contemplating replacing their from Austria with a passiv-standard equivalent recommends the whole water content of the
single-glazed windows with modern energy- guarantee. However, importantly, it was without calorifier is heated to 60 deg C for one hour
efficient ones might decide not to do so. the associated MVHR. As a practice we have each day, normally during the early hours of
Given that the government will have to no interest in signing up to a certification the morning.
transpose the recast Energy Performance of system which makes mechanical ventilation In the same article Yan Evans of Baxi
Buildings Directive into UK, why not let this and heat recovery mandatory, while not taking Commercial Division recommends an anti-
process take its course, and we will inevitably a broader interest in healthy indoor climate. legionella cycle of once per week, otherwise the
end up with the EU version of CI anyway? We find this kind of leap into prescriptive economic and environmental benefits of solar
Rick Wilberforce BA MSc CEng MCIBSE certification myopic. Even the German passiv- water heating are negated. It would appear then
EU Public Affairs Consultant enthusiasts are split between the energy and that solar water heating is not economically
carbon obsessed (currently in control of the viable for those of us following the practical
Dancing on the point of a needle certification) and those, quite rightly, concerned advice of the ACOP L8.
When I answered the phone to give an with other key issues related to construction Tim Othen
interview to the CIBSE Journal on our school materials, healthy indoor climate, and so on.
at Acharacle, I was blissfully unaware of what If we are to create buildings which are truly
CIBSE Journal welcomes article proposals from
was to come (‘Learning from passive action’, more sustainable, we must not dance solely to
any reader, wherever you are – whether it be
letters, longer opinion pieces, news stories,
July, page 29). We were certainly surprised to the tune of indoor CO2 levels (a point of needle),
people or events listings, humorous items, or any
see it featured on the front page and even more which are themselves a very crude indicator of
content ideas.
surprised to note the references to Passivhaus air quality and often set at a threshold which
Please send all letters and any other items for
web addresses at the end of the article. It is calls for mechanical ventilation far too early possible publication to: editor@cibsejournal.
this latter factor which has led to an interesting and too often. We must also take into account
com, or write to Bob Cervi, editor, CIBSE Journal,
Cambridge Publishers Ltd, 275 Newmarket Road,
aftermath. serious issues of toxic emissions from materials
Cambridge, CB5 8JE, UK. We reserve the right to
Our office was showered with emails (some and finishes (all materials for Acharacle were edit all letters. Please indicate how you wish your
quite offensive) from what I can only refer to vetted in accordance with Gaia Publications).
letter to be attributed, and whether you wish to
have your contact details included.
as the PassivPolice. This appears to have come Acharacle also addresses passive methods of
16 CIBSE Journal September 2009 www.cibsejournal.com
CIBSEsep09 pp16 letters.indd 16 21/8/09 14:17:15
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