Energist - Part L Compliance Experts - Blog

Just before I get into the blogging zone this week, I’ve been asked to let you know that Energist UK has teamed up with Rickerby’s Solicitors to present a BREEAM Breakfast Seminar on May 25^th from 8.30 – 10.30 at Rickerby’s offices in Cheltenham.

Our Technical Director, Don Howard, will be on hand to explain the new BREEAM regulations, BREEAM Communities and an update on the Carbon Reduction Commitment. Please contact Energist on 08458 386 387 for more information.

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Now, you may not have noticed… but there’s been a bit of a political shift in the UK in the past week. Even before the Labour teams had left Downing Street, the Blue and Yellow hybrid party had started to churn out statements about new energy efficiency measures, and the plan for taking the UK towards our carbon neutral goal.

Chris Huhne is the new Energy and Climate Change Secretary; here’s a few bits of green news that his team is going to have to deal with in the upcoming months…

-Firstly, even before the election was called all those weeks ago, we knew that the SAP and SBEM calculations, Part L, Energy Performance Certificates and all associated bits of our Building Regulations would be safe from change until at least 2013. All parties understand the importance of reducing energy use in our homes and developing new sites in the most environmental way practical.

-Home Information Packs, on the other hand, are not so popular. Every time somebody wants to move house, a HIP is needed – not for much longer, these are going to be phased out. Although – importantly for us and all those Domestic Energy Assessors out there – Energy Performance Certificates WILL still be required.

-Smart meters for homes and more focus on Feed-In Tariffs also seem to be quite high up the ‘To Do’ list. Feed-In Tariffs are an encouragement for us to produce our own electricity. For example, if you have a Photovoltiac array fitted to your roof this year, you’ll be given 41p for every kilowatt of power you make. Smart Meters can tell you exactly how much electricity you’re using at a given time – they also ‘talk’ to your energy supplier so your bills will be more accurate.

-Both the Conservatives and Lib Dems agree that green spaces and ‘wildlfie corridors’ need to be encouraged, one option on the table is to bill developers for causing environmental damage to a site, with that money being used to fund nature reserves (or something similar) elsewhere.

-Power stations could cause friction – the Tories would like more nuclear stations and to use carbon catching methods, the Lib Dems want to focus on renewable power stations and encouraging industries to use less power in the first place.

Whatever happens in the coming months, Energist UK’s Technical Team will always be on hand to help with your Part L, Part G, Code for Sustainable Homes, EcoHomes, BREEAM and Air Testing needs. Call us on 08458 386 387.

 In recent weeks, we’ve seen a lot of curiosity in the marketplace around BREEAM… so in typical blog fashion, here’s a crash course:

BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method in case you were wondering!) [Thanks to Martin for confirming that!] is used on commercial buildings, and has a lot of similarities with the Code for Sustainable Homes on the residential side of the building industry.

The Government is planning to tighten up on the current planning regulations so that all new commercial developments after 2019 must be able to show the buildings will be zero carbon. The aim is to achieve this by 2016 on the residential side.

So how does BREEAM help to do this? There are five levels of BREEAM starting with Pass, Good, Very Good, Excellent and Outstanding. The higher BREEAM rating you get, the better level you can reach.

A BREEAM calculation is split into ten categories which cover areas such as Health & Wellbeing of the occupiers, Transport links, plans for dealing with waste, ecology…. Each one of these categories carries with it several criteria, and each one of these criterion carries a certain amount of credits. The more criteria you agree to (and are able to prove!), the more credits you get, with then gives you a better BREEAM rating.

Here’s an example from the Energy section: ‘One credit is available where energy-efficient external lighting is specified and all light fittings are controlled for the presence of daylight.’ If your building complies with this, you get one Energy Credit which will give you 0.79 of a percentage point.

Another example from the Transport section: ‘Up to five credits are awarded on a sliding scale based on the assessed building’s accessibility to the public transport network.’ Depending on the information you can provide us about the transport links of the site, you can earn up to five Transport credits – each one will give you 0.8 of a percentage point.

The credits which are available to you will depend on the type of building you are constructing. A prison will clearly have different needs to an office, so the credit criteria will change accordingly.

Also, some credits are mandatory, depending on which level of BREEAM you are aiming to achieve. This credit is from the Health section: ‘One mandatory credit where evidence provided demonstrates that the risk of waterborne and airborne legionella contamination has been minimised.’ If you are unable to meet this demand, you will automatically fail the BREEAM assessment – all mandatory credits must be achieved.

When all of the percentage points are added up – anything over 30% will get you a ‘Pass’ rating (the first level). 85% will get you to the ‘Outstanding’ level.

Energist’s assessment team is fully qualified to help you with all your BREEAM, CSH and Part L calculation needs. 08458 386 387

This month, we have seen a new incentive introduced in the UK which makes the idea of producing your own electricity much more financially appealing.

The Feed-In Tariff (FIT) is available to anybody who has photovoltaic panels (or PV to you and me) installed on their homes at any point in the next two years. Unlike solar thermal panels, PV produces electricity from natural light and pumps the power straight into your home. Any surplus gets sent onto the National Grid.

But here’s the icing on the proverbial cake – for every kilowatt of electricity you produce that gets put into the grid, YOU get paid 41p… and this figure will rise with inflation! Although efficiencies can vary wildly, around six square metres of PV would be expected to produce a kilowatt hour of energy.

The idea of Feed-In Tariffs isn’t new, and has been used in other countries for several years. A case study in Germany has found that a 2kWh system would cost about ten thousand pounds to install, take about ten years to pay for itself in reduced energy bills, and then is expected to give the homeowner around a 9% annual return on the investment. How many banks can guarantee a money-maker like that?

Clearly the Powers That Be are very keen on this idea, otherwise they wouldn’t have set up such a generous tariff. On top of that, PV and solar panels no longer require additional planning approval in the majority of cases.

If you are building a new home, you can now incorporate PV arrays into the roof which look like shiny roof tiles. This will not only save the homeowner money on their electricity bills, but will also give you a better Energy Performance Certificate rating and a very impressive looking SAP assessment.

PV works best on a south facing roof with minimal overshadowing, but can be installed facing any orientation.

If you are considering using a renewable technology on a new build or extension, let the Energist assessment team tell you just how much of a difference you’ll be looking that.

Give us a call on 08458 386 387 to find out more.

THIS WEEK, TENS of thousands of professionals from the European building industry attended the EcoBuild exhibition at Earl’s Court to gain an insight into the latest developments in building materials, renewable technologies, heating systems and building legislation.

So what did the Energist team uncover in among the thousand plus exhibitors and scores of seminars?

“EcoBuild was launched 5 years ago, and the attendance was 950 visitors in the first year.  This week, the 2010 EcoBuild had over 55,000 visitors, with 25% more exhibition space than 2009.  This surely demonstrates the size of the green and sustainable market – which gives us a glimpse of a no doubt challenging but also exciting future” Sarah Fenwick, MD, Energist UK

-          There was a heavy ethos on PassivHaus among developers and accreditors. This is despite there only being a handful of live projects currently on the go in the UK. PassivHaus is used more widely in Europe as an alternative way of gauging energy efficiency in buildings, with the emphasis on air tightness and insulation to keep heating costs to an absolute minimum. If you would like more information on PassivHaus developments, call us for more information.

-          Mechanical Ventilation systems – which channel warm air from wet rooms, filter it and recirculate around the rest of the house – have come on leaps and bounds in the past couple of years. Again, the benefit here is a more constant internal temperature and higher air tightness; although there are murmurs that developers are not convinced that these systems are being used correctly by the people who live in the houses, causing the dwelling to be less efficient.

-          Plenty of building materials and insulations on show from polystyrene blocks to walls made of hay and hemp. This can be a confusing juggling act for those responsible for sourcing materials for building… is it cost effective? Does it have a good conductivity? Are the materials sustainable? Do they degrade over time? Can it be damaged easily? How will it effect the SAP and SBEM calculations? We’d recommend putting plenty of research into new construction methods if you haven’t used them before to make sure they’re appropriate for your site.

-          There are plenty of bodies out there eyeing up the future of Building Regulations in the UK. Short term, the SAP Calculation is going to get tighter (starting with a 25% emission cut from October) with the ambition that all new build dwellings are carbon neutral by 2016, and all commercial buildings by 2019. And then the longer-term plan is to turn our attention to the existing housing stock to see how we can cut our emission rates even further.

What thoughts did you come away with from this year’s Ecobuild? We’d love to hear them!

Remember that Energist can help with Air Tightness Testing, SAP and SBEM Calculations; Code for Sustainable Homes, Energy Statements, PassivHaus, Sunlight Feasibility Reports, BREEAM, Commercial Energy Performance Certificates, Display Energy Certificates, the list goes on…. Call us on 08458 386 387 to find out how we can help you meet your Part L sustainability needs.

In October 2010, the Building Regulations for England and Wales are changing - where energy efficiency is concerned the new literature is going to lead to tighter emissions target, with the overall aim that all new dwellings will be zero carbon by 2016 and commercial buildings by 2019.

Energist’s team of assessors are fully aware of the current proposals and consultations, and are already planning how the changes to the Regulations are going to affect SAP and SBEM reports as we currently know them.

Regardless of how the Regulations change, you can rest assured that Energist’s technical department will always be on hand to offer advice and support for all your Part L needs.

For advice on your next project speak to our Projects and Pricing Team on 08458 386 387 or visit our website www.energistuk.co.uk