OPINION: REGULATIONS
TIME TO EMPOWER ENGINEERING
Government is due to publish its response to last year’s Part L consultation, with the Housing Standards Review to follow shortly. Hywel Davies says the changes are an opportunity to create national technical guidelines and banish confl icts between planning and building regulations
By the time you read this, the government response to last
year’s consultation on proposed changes to Part L should be published. It should set out whether government intends to change the carbon emissions targets for either domestic or non-domestic buildings. The original proposals set out a range
of options to reduce carbon emissions, with an analysis of the capacity to deliver those reductions by increasing the effi ciency of the building envelope and services, and the need for renewables to meet the targets. This prompted signifi cant comment
on the relative merits and feasibility of more stringent fabric standards and the costs of renewables. It also stimulated renewed debate about the merits of SAP and SBEM. Whatever the faults of these tools, they at least set targets and allow experienced users to optimise the contribution of fabric and system effi ciency and renewables to achieve compliance at a reasonable cost. Within the constraints of the tools, the decisions on how to balance these are within the control of the engineer. If it is more cost effective to improve
the fabric and not install renewables (and that complies), Part L can be
One house – two sets of technical requirements
satisfi ed that way. The targets are set, and the design team can work out a solution that complies with Part L in England. In Scotland, compliance with Section 6 takes a similar route. All that satisfi es the needs of Building
Regulations and Building Control. However, that is not the whole story. The proposed project also has to obtain planning permission. At this point, a Part L compliant design may face a further challenge. Under various pieces of regulation, on either side of Hadrian’s Wall, the planning authority may seek to impose requirements for
We should have a single set of national technical regulations, so that everyone knows the score
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renewables. The Merton Rule requires 10% of energy demand to be met from renewables. Section 72 of the Climate Change (Scotland) Act requires 15%. The objective of these rules is to drive
the uptake of renewables, to provide a market pull for wider uptake of these generally newer technologies. However, an unintended consequence is a proliferation of regulations; you can comply with the technical requirements of Part L, but fall foul of planning rules. This creates two sets of technical requirements, managed by two separate processes and enforced
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CIBSE Journal June 2013
www.cibsejournal.com
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