Making the most efficient use of energy is a great way to save money and reduce carbon emissions. Building Regulations Part L is a set of rules designed to make buildings more energy efficient by setting parameters around metrics such as thermal performance and lighting quality. The exact targets depend on factors, including whether it’s a new building or an extension, as well as its intended use (commercial or residential).
In this article, focusing on commercial property, we’ll examine seven ways you can ensure your next development hits all the targets you need to achieve Part L approval. Let’s get started.
1. Work with architects who know Part L inside-out
The regulations are always changing, and therefore choosing an Architect that has knowledge of the current standards is crucial to ensure you’ll get approval at the end of the process. Your Architect’s experience with Part L to incorporate the calculation criteria within their initial designs will ensure that your scheme is compliant from the outset. Failure to do this could result in delays to obtain the Building Regulation approval, lead to a redesign of the internal spaces, or worst case a costly retrofitting.
But it’s not just at the early stages when a Part L-experienced Architect can be valuable. Throughout the design and construction process, your architect can make recommendations that ensure you meet all the required regulations.
2. Thermal Insulation
Reaching net zero targets means tackling all sources of carbon emissions, with heating for homes and workspaces making up almost a third of all UK carbon emissions, therefore there is a big push to reduce or remove any heat loss in these buildings.
Perhaps the simplest way to do this, is to provide the most efficient thermal insulation to the walls, roofs and floors of a building, ensuring they require less energy to heat, making them cheaper to run and more comfortable to live and work in.
There are also other reasons why you may want to insulate your commercial building, other than thermal performance, such as soundproofing, to structure integrity & asbestos encapsulation, and therefore using an Architect that understands the different types of insulation is important to ensure you get what you need.
3. Go Solar
In preparation for the Government’s highly ambitious 2050 Net Zero Target, the forthcoming Future Homes Standard, set to be implemented in 2025, will see the ban of fossil fuels. Thus in new homes in order to achieve Target CO2 Emission Rates (TER) they will require a renewable energy source, which will almost certainly include the installation of Solar PV.
With over 250,000 hectares of south facing commercial roof space in the UK, there are huge opportunities for commercial solar in the UK. Sure, there’s an upfront cost, but it’s an investment that will pay off handsomely in the future.
Installing solar PV on commercial roofs can make sound economic sense; it reduces carbon emissions, offsets the need to purchase peak time electricity from the grid, puts unused rooftop space to good use, and negates future electricity price fluctuations. Then, when your building is up and running, the cost savings of generating your own energy rather than relying on the grid can make all the difference.
Companies are becoming more aware of their energy use and consumers are demanding stronger environmental credentials, and it is most likely that it will become mandatory under Part L, so it’s best to act now.
4. Choose electricity over gas
As part of the Government’s “Build Back Greener” for decarbonisation by 2035 no new gas boilers will be sold, and the shift to renewable energy sources will enforce the change from Gas to Electricity.
Therefore for Commercial buildings, this means putting in place a process to phase out natural gas boilers before 2035, and to encourage small business to adopt the change the Government has proposed various Upgrade Schemes to support the installation of low-carbon systems
The process of transitioning commercial buildings from fossil fuels to low-carbon will be gradual, but it is inevitable, so make sure your designers are up to speed.
5. Look at your lighting
Part L2 requires commercial buildings to run their lighting systems as efficiently as possible, with many calculations required to ensure compliance, essentially measuring predicted energy used by a lighting system over the length of a year.
Simplistically. your lighting designer will need to ensure that a Buildings Emission Rate for carbon dioxide (BER) is better than the Target Emission Rate (TER). If it fails there may be additional remedial work to ensure that the whole building complies.
A major part of the consideration is the correct choice of luminaire, although even light fittings that use very efficient lamps (light bulbs) or LEDS can still be inefficient.
While the whole lighting strategy needs to be considered, such as installing controls such as switches that automatically adjust to daylight or turn off when no one is around.
Part L is complex and it can be quite hard to make sure a lighting scheme complies, and the correct choices needs to be taken into account at the design stage. Don’t rely on your electricians to know the exact Part L requirements.
6. Get an air test
If your building exceeds a certain size, Part L2 of the Buildings Regulations requires that all non-
domestic buildings are subject to mandatory air permeability tests, and form part of the requirement for SAP and SBEM As Built Certification for non-domestic properties.
An air test measures the air leakage from your property and is an effective gauge of insulation and building quality, and can point towards potential improvements or remedial works to the your building, while an air tightness strategy should be developed in line with the fabric design and ventilation proposals.
Depending on the size and nature of your commercial property, you may not be required to have an air test carried out. However, to check your building is running at a high efficiency level, it’s good practice to get one anyway.
7. Communication is key
Of course, there will always be changes that happen during a development project.
When you need to make changes, it’s essential to communicate them to your designers to maintain future compliance with Part L. For example, if you choose to use a different type of insulation to save on costs, it could jeopardise your building’s efficiency.
Keeping your consultants informed as changes happen can prevent bigger problems further down the road.
8. Don’t forget EPC
If you want your building to get an A-rated Energy Performance Certificate (EPC), this also needs to be factored in from the design stage, as well as Part L.
Again, communication is the watchword. The more you tell your designers at the start of the process, the more likely they’ll create something that hits all your targets.
At Harvey Wright Architects, we place efficiency and sustainability at the heart of everything we do. For commercial property projects, the designs we create not only pass Part L; they surpass expectations, saving you energy and money for years to come.
To find out more about Harvey Wright Architects, call 020 3239 6044 or visit hwarchitects.co.uk.