14 THE CLIMATE CHALLENGE
Opening up the black box on Part F and ventilation
Following the changes to Part F and Part L of the Building Regulations, housebuilders have been set the challenge of balancing carbon emissions with sufficient airflow to keep homes healthy. The importance of ventilation to health and wellbeing has been given prominence in the latest version of Part F. Steve Pearce of Vent-Axia explains more.
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THE FOCUS ON VENTILATION HAS INCREASED IN PART F TO SUPPORT THE SAFETY OF RESIDENTS
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2021. So, it’s no surprise that the new Building Regulations address how to reduce emissions to help meet the UK’s carbon targets as we move towards the Future Homes Standard on the road to net zero. For housebuilders, this has meant a significant cut in carbon emissions of 30% for new homes, setting a challenge for housebuilders to improve both energy efficiency and airtightness of homes. However, as well as being tasked with making these carbon reductions, housebuilders also need to increase ventilation. As buildings become more airtight to improve efficiency it is essential to consider indoor air quality (IAQ) as well to protect the wellbeing of inhabitants. Part F’s publication heralds a vital step to improve IAQ with it setting out significant changes, which will drive adoption of low carbon ventilation as an industry standard and improve the quality of the air we breathe in buildings.
n November 2022, COP27 sought to accelerate global climate action through emissions reductions. Building and construction accounted for over 34% of energy demand and 37% of energy and process-related CO2
emissions in
The new 2021 edition of Part F, L and O took effect on 15 June 2022 in England, but there is a 12-month grace period, which ends in June. Historically Building Regulations applied to each site but following the end of the grace period, each individual plot must follow these regulations in order to comply. This means if a site designed to previous regulations hasn’t started every plot by June, any remaining plots would need to be redesigned to meet the 2021 edition.
THE SOLUTION
The focus on ventilation has increased in Part F to support the safety of residents, meaning housebuilders are making an overall move to more advanced ventilation solutions, such as Mechanical Ventilation with Heat Recovery (MVHR). However, MVHR is not the only ventilation solution that complies. Housebuilders can instead opt for Continuous Mechanical Extract Ventilation (MEV) in combination with decentralised MEV (dMEV).
MEV and dMEV provide a simple and effective solution to help housebuilders meet the Building Regulations and the Future Homes Standard. The Standard
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