SUSTAINABILITY
WHAT HAPPENS NOW? P
rogress to improve the sustainability of our industry will only be made through supply
chain partnerships, with builders merchants playing a pivotal role between manufacturers of more sustainable products and the contractor.
That’s according to Mark Magennis from Xtratherm’s Technical Team, who says that the upcoming update to building regulations in England is the latest in several changes the industry will experience. The new regulations comprise five new Approved Documents, including uplifts to Part L (fuel and power) and Part F (ventilation), which will come into effect from 15 June 2022, and will have a marked impact on new homes and existing homes. In 2021, the UK Government introduced Approved Document L, Conservation of fuel and power, Volume 1: Dwellings as an interim measure towards the Future Homes Standard regulations coming into effect in 2025. These changes set the standards in England for the design, construction, and alteration of buildings and come into effect from June 2022. They require an approximate 30% reduction in emissions on all new residential dwellings. “Installing low carbon
technology, such as solar panels and heat pumps, and using materials in a more energy efficient way to keep in heat will help cut emissions – lowering the cost of energy bills for families and helping deliver the UK’s climate change ambitions,” Magennis says. “All new residential buildings, including homes, care homes, student accommodation and children’s homes, must also be designed to reduce overheating, making sure they are fit for the future and
protect the most vulnerable people. Improvements to ventilation will also be introduced to support the safety of residents in newly-built homes and to prevent the spread of airborne viruses in new non- residential buildings.” Magennis explains that the legislation states that the building should be constructed so that there are no reasonably avoidable thermal bridges in the insulation layers caused by gaps in, or between various elements or around window and door openings.
“A fabric first approach is accepted as the single most effective measure in achieving energy efficiency and Xtratherm insulation systems help designers achieve energy performance through good detailing and a low thermal bridging factor. Insulation performance is now no longer about simple U-Values. How insulation interconnects with other elements and junctions in the design is critical. To comply with the legislation, the aim is to achieve a continuous thermal layer that minimises heat loss at those junctions. Our solutions set include
January 2022
www.buildersmerchantsjournal.net
continuous build systems along with a range of accessories such as preformed corner panels that work to address the gap between the design and the actual build.” He adds that continuous product improvement, in the company’s new ECO360 bio enhanced PIR
New Homes
• There will be approximately 30% reduction on emissions from new homes, as well as a 27% cut on new buildings including offices and shops • An entirely new Building Regulation and Approved Document O has been set up to mitigate the risk of overheating in new homes. One key inclusion is that maximum limits to the amount of glazing will be set on new residential buildings • New homes will adopt the Fabric Energy Efficiency Standard to measure energy efficiency • There will be a maximum flow temperature requirement of 55°C for new and replacement heating systems, as part of the Part L uplift
Part L of the Building Regs changes in June 2022. BMJ talks to Xtratherm to get the low-down on how it will affect builders merchants.
insulation, has delivered a thermal conductivity of 0.020 W/mK, giving an excellent performance to thickness ratio. “This allows for passive performance buildings to be constructed while minimising the structure’s thickness and reducing materials and embodied carbon,” Magennis says. “Xtratherm are working with our builders merchant partners to promote understanding of greener construction and drive improvements in the built environment using traditional materials, methods and local suppliers to meet net zero targets. We can work with your own sustainability teams in understanding the issues of regulation targets, measurement metrics and further towards the use of Environmental Product Declarations for building materials and how they are used in the calculation of embodied carbon.” BMJ
Existing Homes
• An appendix has been included in Part L which sets out a good practice specification for a home built with a heat pump. • Uplifts to Part L & Part F of the Building Regulations have set new minimum standards for fabric efficiency. For example, there will be a new efficiency metric for the whole house calculation method for new extensions • There will be a requirement for new or replacement heating system designs to accept low-carbon heating in future, including integrating the latest Ecodesign appliance benchmarks
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