The war in Ukraine, and the surging cost of living crisis, have turned the UK’s focus onto cutting energy bills and building running costs. The government’s British energy security strategy set a series of long-term goals for increasing renewable and nuclear energy, but in the shorter term we must focus on cutting demand. To be fair, the government had already set about addressing this through its Heat and Buildings Strategy, The Future Buildings Standard, and the Boiler Upgrade Scheme. These all recognise the importance of energy efficiency to reduce current running costs, while also preparing for a future that will rely far more on low temperature, low carbon heating from heat pumps, in particular.
The British energy security strategy also looked at how it could improve the ventilation in buildings and address overheating, while still staying true to its climate change promises by linking changes to Parts L and F of the Building Regulations – the guiding principle being that you must improve energy savings, but not at the expense of good indoor air quality (IAQ)
New targets came into effect in June 2022, with the new regulations regarded as a stepping stone towards The Future Homes Standard and The Future Buildings Standard, which aim to make all buildings ‘Net Zero ready’ from 2025. For now, homes will have to cut their carbon emissions by 30%, and nondomestic buildings by 27%, to meet the requirements of the revised Part L.
Overheating
All new residential buildings, including care and children’s homes, and student accommodation, must also be designed to reduce overheating, under changes to Part F and the introduction of the new Part O. Changes to ventilation will also be introduced that can reduce the spread of airborne viruses in new non-residential buildings, including the mandating of CO2 monitors to demonstrate ventilation effectiveness, and additional standards for recirculating ventilation systems in all new offices. The government is proposing three performance metrics against which new non-domestic buildings will be measured: primary energy, a CO2 emission target, and minimum standards for fabric and fixed building services. The introduction of a primary energy metric is designed to make the energy efficiency of each building a priority, regardless of their heat source
Even higher fabric performance standards
The government also intends to set the Fabric Energy Efficiency standard, so there is a ‘meaningful uplift to the fabric of new homes’, leading to greater carbon savings. It has said that it will set even higher fabric performance targets as part of The Future Buildings Standard, and is also proposing to introduce a requirement for trickle vents in all replacement windows, and a new method for ensuring that ventilation is not impaired when energy efficiency improvements are carried out on existing buildings.
Transforming construction culture
The biggest change to construction practices in half a century is also racing towards us with the enactment of the Building Safety Act later this year. Implementation of the bulk of the new regime is anticipated within 12-18 months from the date of Royal Assent (i.e. by April – October 2023), with some obligations coming into force before then. For example, the provisions dealing with the remediation of certain defects (which were the most heavily publicised part of the Act) came into force two months from the date of Royal Assent (i.e. on 28 June 2022). The Act will introduce such a profound change to manufacturing, planning, procurement, installation, inspection, competence, and compliance, that many are arguing it will derail our carbon reduction plans.
Delivering a 75% reduction in carbon emissions by 2035 on the road to Net Zero by 2050 already seemed pretty ambitious before adding on the burden of totally revamping the safety culture of an entire industry at the same time. However, the transformation of building culture in this way should prove exactly what we need to revamp our energy and carbon performance. Poor energy performance is often the most obvious symptom of a building that is generally not fit for purpose. Making our buildings better by improving competence and compliance standards will have benefits all round. Lawyers and insurers will obviously have a big influence on the safety agenda, but there will also be considerable commercial incentives for building owners and managers to do the right thing for their occupants and the planet
Incentivising whole-life performance
For example, many building owners are adopting the Australian NABERS model because it incentivises whole-life performance, and therefore drives down the lifecycle carbon. Landlord services in commercial buildings have improved their energy performance by 36% since the Australian government mandated the scheme in 1999. It works because it is in the commercial interests of the landlord to make sure their building has a good enough rating to attract tenants. NABERS ratings cover 86% of the Australian commercial building stock, and are fully transparent, so there is no hiding place for underperforming assets. This principle is becoming increasingly popular with UK building owners, who are nervous about ending up with ‘stranded assets’, i.e. buildings that will eventually be too expensive to retrofit to meet tightening low carbon standards
Minds are also being focused by the Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES), which are due to be upgraded this year. Since 2018 a minimum EPC rating of E has been in place for new tenancies, but from 1 April 2023 this will be extended to cover existing leases, making it unlawful for a landlord to let any commercial property with an EPC rating of less than E. The MEES level will then rise to B by 1 April 2030, with landlords given two ‘compliance windows’, starting in April 2025, to achieve it. All properties will have to be at least C-rated by 2027
A conflation of the regulatory and the economic
The landscape for anyone designing, installing, and commissioning heating, cooling, and renewable systems is, therefore, changing dramatically, thanks to this conflation of the regulatory and the economic, and the alarming state of global energy markets
There is a clear focus on the future, but with a recognition that buildings must be safer and healthier, must pay their way, and be attractive to potential buyers or tenants now and for the long-term. This means that our industry will have to get to grips with a systems approach that addresses both immediate concerns over running costs and energy supply, with the longer-term goals of delivering Net Zero – but these things are not mutually exclusive.
James Henley
James Henley, Product Development manager, joined Daikin Applied UK in 2007 as a Contracts engineer, delivering project solutions to specification. He then progressed into AHU and Chiller sales, before becoming the Chiller Product manager, and now the Product Development manager. He says: “Having worked throughout the business I feel I have a wellrounded knowledge of the HVAC industry, offering the best solutions to individual applications. Daikin Applied is a world-leading company delivering cutting-edge HVAC solutions to the market. My role in Product Development helps shape future solutions that exceed demands.” He also heads up the Technical Team, assisting the company with technical assistance, training, and product development requirements, and the Marketing Department, bringing together his sales and technical expertise to deliver relevant communications