News
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 …
MCPD Success for Colindale Gardens
Posted on March 31st 2022
We successfully supported Redrow in their bid for an Environmental Permit under the Medium Combustion Plant Directive (MCPD), for their Energy Centre at Colindale Gardens which provides heat to homes & commercial units on the site. The permit allows the operation of one Combined Heat and Power (CHP) unit rated at 3.6MWth and three gas boilers, each rated at 6.4MWth. …
Driving Sustainability Using Early Stage Environmental Analysis
Posted on March 31st 2022
Environmental analysis at early design stages supports a smooth planning process by driving the sustainability agenda and addressing concerns of councils and residents through a robust design process. By using these tools (example outputs below), a range of environmental indicators can be provided early on, including indications of areas that addressed to ensure that they achieve regulatory standards in terms …
First Birthday of Hodkinson Consultancy Employee Ownership Trust
Posted on February 28th 2022
Our Employee Ownership Trust (EOT) celebrated its first birthday on 24th February. Engagement from the team has always been part of the ethos of the company. Being employee owned builds this into our future, enabling everyone to contribute to the ongoing success of the company and share in its success too. Employee ownership also ensures that the values of the …
How Have Heat Network Customers Been Affected by Utility Price Rises?
Posted on February 28th 2022
Gas Combined Heat & Power (CHP) continues to provides the lowest cost of heat production, protecting residents more from utility inflation than heat networks run just on gas boilers or heat pumps. CHP achieves this through the generation, and sale, of electricity, which has also increased in value. The chart below shows how the cost of heat for 3 different …