How do Design Stage requirements differ around the country?

We know how much of a relief it is to get the big thumbs up from the local planning department. But we also know that opens a whole new chapter in the progress of your development.

Building Control will be keen to ensure your proposed buildings meet every requirement of the Approved Documents, while the planning department will want to keep a watchful eye on proceedings. Energist’s technical team offers a wide range of services in the sustainability sector that cover you from concept design through to final completion.

Here are some of the key services our specialists can help with:

Where are you building?

Choose where in the country you are building to show the Design Stage services we offer and the type of projects we would expect them to apply to.

• Regionally
• Nationally
• In London

Regional Design Stage requirements

• Target Emission Rate
• Water Efficiency Calculations (Part G)
• Thermal Bridging
• Condensation Risk Analysis
• BREEAM

Target Emission Rates

Energy efficient homes means lower energy homes means cheaper-to-run homes. Whichever way you look at it, creating a specification and building design that improves over the Target Emission Rate is an essential piece of the overall picture to meet compliance.

You also need to consider fabric energy efficiency targets, maximum U-Values and minimum heating efficiencies.

Before construction work begins, you should ensure a full set of SAP and SBEM assessments are completed to make sure every part of your design is compliant.

And be aware of regional differences… each country in the UK has different regulations to work to.

Our technical team knows the best paths to compliance, whether you’re working to English, Welsh or Scottish regulations.

At the end of the project your calculations can be used to generate Energy Performance Certificates.

Part G

Water usage is a hot topic in England and Wales, and plenty is being done to reduce the amount being wasted, especially in our cities, and to the east.

This means tough targets are imposed on new housing developments so they are designed with water efficiency in mind. We can create Part G calculations to show how your proposed fixtures and fittings will compare to building regulation targets.

Thermal bridging analysis

If you regularly build using the same construction specification and products, you may find it beneficial to have a set of thermal bridging assessments (or psi-values) produced.

This specialist modelling service shows the predicted heat losses through the junctions of your building and can be a useful way of checking you are including a suitable amount of insulation within the corners and joins of the building.

A decent set of psi-values can offer big improvements in your SAP calculations, so this one-off investment could be seen as an alternative approach to installing solar panels or more expensive insulation products.

Condensation risk

As we continually push to build more air-tight buildings, we increase the risk of trapping moisture in our homes which could result in condensation and mould growth.

We can check your design for both interstitial and surface condensation risk so you can have piece of mind that your specification isn’t going to lead to low standards of indoor air quality.

BREEAM

If your planning policy includes BREEAM requirements, don’t forget about them! Data gathering continues throughout the design and construction phase of a development. Forgetting to collect your evidence can lead to lots of paper-chasing at the eleventh hour.

We are equipped to not only guide you through the sustainable section of building control, but our technical team are also on hand to help at the planning stage, and with final completion testing.

Contact us to see how we can help you meet the planning conditions on your next project.

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National Design Stage requirements

• Target Emission Rate
• Water Efficiency Calculations (Part G)
• Thermal Bridging
• Condensation Risk Analysis
• BREEAM

Target Emission Rates

Energy efficient homes means lower energy homes means cheaper-to-run homes. Whichever way you look at it, creating a specification and building design that improves over the Target Emission Rate is an essential piece of the overall picture to meet compliance.

You also need to consider fabric energy efficiency targets, maximum U-Values and minimum heating efficiencies.

Before construction work begins, you should ensure a full set of SAP and SBEM assessments are completed to make sure every part of your design is compliant.

And be aware of regional differences… each country in the UK has different regulations to work to.

Our technical team knows the best paths to compliance, whether you’re working to English, Welsh or Scottish regulations.

At the end of the project your calculations can be used to generate Energy Performance Certificates.

Part G

Water usage is a hot topic in England and Wales, and plenty is being done to reduce the amount being wasted, especially in our cities, and to the east.

This means tough targets are imposed on new housing developments so they are designed with water efficiency in mind. We can create Part G calculations to show how your proposed fixtures and fittings will compare to building regulation targets.

Thermal bridging analysis

On larger developments, or homes with a unique construction method, you may find it beneficial to have a set of thermal bridging assessments (or psi-values) produced.

This specialist modelling service shows the predicted heat losses through the junctions of your building and can be a useful way of checking you are including a suitable amount of insulation within the corners and joins of the building.

A decent set of psi-values can offer big improvements in your SAP calculations, so this one-off investment could be seen as an alternative approach to installing solar panels or more expensive insulation products.

Condensation risk

As we continually push to build more air-tight buildings, we increase the risk of trapping moisture in our homes which could result in condensation and mould growth.

We can check your design for both interstitial and surface condensation risk so you can have piece of mind that your specification isn’t going to lead to low standards of indoor air quality.

BREEAM

If your planning policy includes BREEAM requirements, don’t forget about them! Data gathering continues throughout the design and construction phase of a development. Forgetting to collect your evidence can lead to lots of paper-chasing at the eleventh hour.

We are equipped to not only guide you through the sustainable section of building control, but our technical team are also on hand to help at the planning stage, and with final completion testing.

Contact us to see how we can help you meet the planning conditions on your next project.

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London Design Stage requirements

• Part L
• Water Efficiency Calculations (Part G)
• Thermal Bridging
• Condensation Risk Analysis
• BREEAM

Part L

It is likely your planning conditions will have set you on a course that is far stricter than the Emission Rate targets of Part L. However, fabric energy efficiency targets, maximum U-Values and minimum heating efficiencies all feed into the mix. As part of the pre-construction checks you should ensure a full set of SAP and SBEM assessments are completed to make sure every part of your design is compliant.

And as the GLA is now using sections of the draft SAP10 methodology, while Building Control are bound to the older SAP2012 approach, you need to make sure your specification is designed to meet the targets of both calculations.

Our technical team understands how these two methodologies differ, and can help you piece together a design that works well in both camps.

At the end of the project your calculations can be used to generate Energy Performance Certificates.

Part G

Water usage is a hot topic, and plenty is being done to reduce the amount being wasted across the capital. This means tough targets are imposed on new housing developments so they are designed with water efficiency in mind. We can create Part G calculations to show how your proposed fixtures and fittings will compare to building regulation targets.

Thermal Bridging Analysis

On larger developments, or homes with a unique construction method, you may find it beneficial to have a set of thermal bridging assessments (or psi-values) produced.

This specialist modelling service shows the predicted heat losses through the junctions of your building and can be a useful way of checking you are including a suitable amount of insulation within the corners and joins of the building.

A decent set of psi-values can offer big improvements in your SAP calculations, so this one-off investment could be seen as an alternative approach to installing solar panels or more expensive insulation products.

Condensation Risk Analysis

As we continually push to build more air-tight buildings, we increase the risk of trapping moisture in our homes which could result in condensation and mould growth.

We can check your design for both interstitial and surface condensation risk so you can have piece of mind that your specification isn’t going to lead to low standards of indoor air quality.

BREEAM

Just because you’re through the planning stage, don’t forget about your commitments to BREEAM. Data gathering continues throughout the design and construction phase of a development. Forgetting to collect your evidence can lead to lots of paper-chasing at the eleventh hour.

We are equipped to not only guide you through the sustainable section of building control, but our technical team are also on hand to help at the planning stage, and with final completion testing.

Contact us to see how we can help you meet the planning conditions on your next project.

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