2010 sees proposed changes to Part L of the Building regulations. After the radical changes made to the Building regulations in April 2006, it waapparent that some aspects were not working. Key changes proposed are:

• A 25% aggregate reduction in CO2 emissions will be required for all buildings compared with 2006 levels;
• All design stage submissions to building control will need to be accompanied by a specification;
• A fuel based TER will be introduced to help to improve energy efficiency;
• Emissions from electric heating systems will be capped at the same rate as foil heating;
• The accuracy of SAP calculations will be improved by moving from an annual to a monthly calculation thus taking intoaccount the effect of monthly variations in the weather on the building such as solar gain;
• The benefits of thermal mass are taken into account in the winter and the summer. Currently the tool allows for the cooling effect of thermal mass in the summer but doesn't allow for reduced
• heating demand in winter when solar gain heats up the thermal mass of the building;
• Designers will have to submit commissioning plans to building control at the start of a project;
• The energy efficiency of pumps will be included in the Building Regulations for the first time;
• Compliance guides for domestic heating and for heating and cooling will be beefed up and renamed building services compliance guides;
• The government will publish accredited construction details to cover elements such as heat loss caused by thermalbridging;
• The 25% improvement in energy efficiency for non-domestic buildings will be an aggregate value for all new buildings;
• Under the changes to part L, buildings will become more airtight so that government is also proposing changes to part F of the Building Regulations to ensure homes are adequately ventilated.

        FOR FURTHER DETAILS GO TO:

        http://www.calfordseaden.co.uk/proposedchanges_partl