Conservation of fuel and power HOT on the agenda

Yesterday, Andrew Stunell, the Building Regulations Minister announced the launch of the consultation on changes to the building regulations which looks to further improve the energy efficiency of buildings by tightening new build and refurbishment standards for all types of buildings.

Under the Climate Change Act 2008, the UK has committed to legally binding targets to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by a minimum of 34% by 2020 and 80% by 2050, relative to 1990 levels. Around 27% of CO2 emissions come from dwellings and another 18% from non domestic buildings which is caused primarily by space heating and cooling, water heating and lighting, all of which are covered by Part L of the building regulations.

Proposals on changes to Part L – the conservation of fuel and power – look to raise energy performance requirements of new and existing buildings along with introducing new requirements relating to works carried out in existing buildings, including domestic extensions and window replacement.

The aim of tightening these standards is to make existing buildings cheaper to run as well and provide protection to building owners etc against rising energy prices, which look set to continue to rise.

One of the key areas the consultation document focuses on is improving the building fabric – walls and windows. Windows in particular are a weak spot in a buildings insulation, leading to overheating in the summer and heat loss in the winter.

External blinds are part and parcel of modern windows and a key solution in the fight against climate change as they cost effectively make significant improvements to the performance of the glazing, by regulating solar heat gain in the summer and minimising heat loss in the winter, all whilst admitting diffused, evenly distributed natural glare free daylight with the resultant impact of minimising the load on installed cooling, heating and lighting devices. In many instances external blinds can avoid the need for replacing glazing in refurbishment.

It is estimated that approximately 80 million tonnes of CO2 could be saved annually in Europe by the correct use of solar shading to reduce air conditioning energy use and more than 30 million tonnes by lowering heating demand. This would go some way in helping the UK to meet its targets. Additionally in a study carried out by ESSO (European Solar Shading Organisation) it is reported that energy bills could be cut by more than 20% with effective solar shading alone.