The clue’s in our name, eco. We’re all about energy efficiency, so the revisions to Part L of the Building Regulations are a welcome change.
The revisions to the UK’s Building Regulations which came into effect on 15 June 2022 affect both domestic and non-domestic buildings and are a step towards the Government’s targets to reduce the UK’s carbon emissions.
The construction industry must now comply with increased energy efficiency standards which include requirements for the performance of the building fabric and thermal elements like windows and doors, as well as its primary energy.
In order to prove compliance, the relevant parties will be required to take and submit photographs as evidence, which will form part of the new Building Regulation England Part L (BREL) report.
The change in energy specific requirements, in short?
In terms of primary energy, the focus will be on low carbon heating and low temperature emitters, for example, the move away from more traditional heating systems such as gas boilers and traditional heat emitters being radiators.
All space heating and domestic hot water boiler installations in existing non-domestic buildings must now include controls to improve the effective efficiency of the system.
In new non-domestic buildings, the minimum efficacy of lighting installations has been increased to 95 luminaire lumens per circuit watt for general lighting and 80 luminaire lumens per circuit watt for display lighting. Lower efficacies in some rooms can be offset by higher efficacies in others.
New non-domestic buildings also now require a building automation and control system if they include a heating or air-conditioning system of 180kW or over.
All wet space heating systems in new buildings must now operate with a maximum flow temperature of 55°C.
Clear as mud?
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