Building Regs Part L (conservation of fuel and power) and Part F (ventilation) are currently out for consultation. The deadline to respond is Friday 10th January.
As the consultation is long and technical in places, the London Energy Transformation Initiative (LETI) has produced answers to share with the industry; we are pleased to have helped form this response. This means other practices can choose to adopt LETI’s answers if they need help formulating their own. Click here to see the key messages and long question responses.
The government's proposals are very worrying – these are the main concerns:
- Fabric performance is likely to get worse. A home in 2020 could be less insulated than a home under 2013 Building Regulations. The use of an energy efficient heating system has the ability to mask fabric performance.
- Carbon and primary energy factors disguise the energy efficiency of a home. The energy consumption of a home can be high but carbon emissions low. This leads to inefficient homes which appear to be performing well.
- Local authorities will lose the ability to meet their climate emergency zero carbon commitments if they are stripped of their powers to go above and beyond the new Part L.
It’s really important that the government receive as many responses as possible. Changing Building Regs to support climate change is one of the greatest contributions we can make as professionals. We encourage others to sign up on the LETI website as individuals or companies and pass the message on to others in the industry.
