News
GLA Toughens Carbon and Energy Efficiency Policies
Posted on May 31st 2022
The GLA have made carbon & energy efficiency requirements significantly more onerous. The requirements from 15/06/22 will require building design improvements over the tougher Part L 2021 baseline. The GLA states that their full requirements will be provided on the same day enforcement begins. We have followed up with the GLA, and development teams should consider that: Requirements are applicable …
Indoor Air Quality Monitoring for the Public Services Industry
Posted on May 31st 2022
Indoor Air Quality monitoring is a potential solution to the COVID-related staffing crisis plaguing the public services industry. COVID transmission risk is particularly high in public spaces such as pubs, cafés and restaurants. This can be improved by changing occupant behaviour and increasing natural ventilation. However, implementing these solutions may impact the occupant experience and reduce trade. Through the use …
Lock in BREEAM Fees Before They Rise
Posted on May 31st 2022
The BRE have announced an increase in BREEAM fees for all projects registered on or after 1st July 2022. This will affect all aspects of the BREEAM process including registration, certification and fast track certification, as set out below. BREEAM UK New Construction and UK Non-Domestic Refurbishment and Fit Out: The fee for an assessment registration is increasing from £265 to £300. …
Registering a Heat Network to the PCDB
Posted on May 31st 2022
Registering efficient heat networks onto the BRE administered Product Characteristics Database (PCDB) will help prevent operators from being overly penalised in Part L 2021. Entering validated heat network performance data into the PCDB enables energy assessments to be more robust. A well-designed heat network can achieve a distribution loss factor (DLF) of 1.2 compared to the default values in SAP …
User Friendly Ventilation is Key to Mitigating Overheating
Posted on April 29th 2022
User friendly means of mitigating overheating are key but not necessarily cheap. The success of overheating mitigation is heavily reliant on occupant behaviour and usually includes either mechanical cooling or ventilation. The former guarantees internal temperatures of 22 °C while the latter can lead to spaces closer to 28 °C. Mechanical cooling has an estimated annual operational cost ranging between …
Reducing Heat Networks Losses for Part L 2021 Compliance
Posted on April 28th 2022
Heat losses (and their SAP counterpart – the Distribution Loss Factor – DLF) are a key aspect of achieving carbon & primary energy targets in Part L 2021, so its therefore important to understand how they can be lowered. We have looked at the impact of several heat loss reduction measures (see Figure 1). CP1 compliance enables use of a …
6 Weeks Remaining to Part L 2021, are You Prepared for the New Changes?
Posted on April 28th 2022
With only 6 weeks remaining to the Part L 2021, are you prepared for the new changes for developments not registered by the 15th June? As Part L comes into play, here is some new information about some of the main changes: New SAP software is not yet available, but is anticipated to be by the June 2022 deadline; Accredited …
Milton Keynes East – Planning Success
Posted on April 28th 2022
Featured image: Milton Keynes East Illustrative Masterplan © Produced by JTP We successfully supported St James Group (part of the Berkeley Group) and the wider design team to achieve planning consent for Milton Keynes East, a new mixed-use urban extension near Milton Keynes. The planning consent has secured outline permission for 4,000-4,600 homes, community facilities, approximately 400,000m2 of predominantly logistics …
Embodied Carbon: Refurbish or Redevelop?
Posted on March 31st 2022
Embodied carbon is increasingly being used by planning authorities to push for refurbishment over demolition and redevelopment. Whilst it can be true for any individual building that refurbishment has a lower embodied carbon impact, a more complex picture emerges when local housing targets are considered. The omitted element of low density refurbishment is that new buildings (and their associated embodied …
Will Your EPC Rating Stop Sales?
Posted on March 31st 2022
Homes with new a tenancy from 1st April 2025 will need an EPC energy efficiency rating (EER) of C if the minimum energy efficiency standards (MEES) consultation is adopted. Failure to meet it could prevent sales as homes would be unlettable without payment of a fine, proposed to be capped at £10,000 per dwelling. Developments should therefore be considering how …