14 ROUND TABLE REVIEW


default starting point a bactobasics approach that gives a robust, reliable platform for renewables. owever, would improvements to the building fabric alone be a realistic solution for the art   reuirements, or was including renewables a given    survey of housebuilders found that nearly  were using air source heat pumps within their solution to meet art , set against  favouring gas boilers and , and the remainder selecting a hybrid approach. The heat pumps industry accepts that the reuired efficiencies will only be realised with a low value fabric, a view echoed by attendees.


“IT’S NOW ABOUT ‘BUILD PRACTICAL,’ AND TRY AND MAKE


IT AS BEAUTIFUL AS YOU CAN” CHRIS CARR, CARR AND CARR BUILDERS


specifiers and ey suppliers exploring how to harness different aspects of building fabric, in particular. t also used the reader survey data collected in our ndustry iewfinder white papers as a springboard for elements of the discussion. ollowing this successful first event, we will be holding more uilding nsights  round tables in future, beginning with a round table dedicated to olutions for tormwater anagement in ctober.


THE CARBON AGENDA


The first uestion on the agenda that the panel discussed was whether cutting  of emissions as a result of art   had been a maor headache, in the context of current pressures such as sills, materials supply chain issues, and inflation.  housebuilder hris arr said that his firm was struggling with the fact that they were trying to build with materials that were not fit for purpose in some cases. e explained further, saying that materials uality and design have not improved with the policy, i.e. the new central drive to produce much more energyefficient homes than the industry has been accustomed to.


This issue of a lac of rigour when it


comes to sill levels among subcontractors feeds directly into the performance gap between design and build. nless we engage them, we are going to have a problem, he said. rchitect hris erry said that with his practice principally woring on ondon residential schemes, they were already designing to a performance level well beyond art , as the ondon lan reuires all new homes to be net zero.’ e suggested that for this level around


WWW.HBDONLINE.CO.UK


 of compliance was possible using fabric improvements, and topping the rest up with s. ased on this, said erry, the  cut in emissions in art  could be easily achieved, at least in theoretical design terms. erry added that it’s when you get to site that you hit problems, adding that most of the headaches he had experienced had come from suppliers, as well as achieving art  when woring with a more energy efficient fabric, and embodied carbon. The latter is not covered in art , but reducing it is fundamental to achieving the ’s legally binding  net zero goals. Tzeh in heong from hepheard pstein unter described issues experienced on a couple of the architecture practice’s ongoing ondon residential proects, where wall thicnesses and other fabric measures had been upped significantly to comply with the ondon lan  lower emissions than art . e agreed with erry that problems had arisen maing the tradeoffs between art ’s stipulations on values and the resultant impact on overheating and art  compliance. e gave the example of a new build residential scheme in edbridge inherited from another practice, which was now being redesigned with smaller windows in order to balance compliance with both arts  and .


BUILDING FABRIC FIRST e ased our attendees to submit comments or uestions for discussion during the round table. imon lacham from  insulation firm ecticel’s offering was that fabricfirst should be the


The ey fabric elements of windows, insulation, and thermal breas were represented by our sponsors. avid lare from ystems admitted that across the glazing industry generally, products are designed to meet the regulations, not to go far in excess, which could raise issues around uture omes tandard compliance. e added that the historic tendency of choosing the most costeffective product is now having to change.


hris arr said that getting installation right was the ey, and during his time as oint chair of the ero arbon ub’s esign vs s uilt’ proect, the ub identified that thermal bridging was the one thing that was failing dramatically in terms of asbuilt performance. rchitect hris erry concurred, saying that it is the most frustrating thing when you go to site and can see gaps between insulation sections, adding it maes it all a bit pointless. hris arr said that his housebuilding firm was now getting oiners to install  insulation, as briclayers ust want to lay brics and blocs.


lacham echoed avid lare of ystems, saying that delays to getting products tested was hampering results across the sector on energy efficiency. s well as dealing with a limited number of testing sites, he said we’ve got the une  deadline of  maring no longer being recognised, though the new  mar was exactly the same as a  mar. avid lare agreed that the lac of testing facilities was also causing maor challenges for firms looing to supply net zero ready’ homes for the uture omes tandard currently slated for .


hen it comes to the biggest compliance issue for housebuilders, arr says it’s providing the ’ photo  evidence of proper installation across every area of a site. or example, you need to get ducting spot on, but on a building site, it’s whoever’s there first that taes priority.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92