Building Regulations: Technical Standards

Introduction

1 The intention of this Part is to ensure that effective measures for the conservation of fuel and power are incorporated in a building. It contains energy conservation provisions for the building fabric and the building services.

2 All buildings require to -

a. conform to specific standards for the elements of the building; or

b. show by calculation that the overall performance of the fabric would be within the total which would have been achieved if the building had conformed to those elemental standards.

3 Buildings in purpose groups 2-7 may as a third alternative conform to energy use standards which allow for solar gains and internal heat gains and which can show that the annual energy consumption of the building would be within that which would have been achieved if the building had conformed to the elemental standards.

4 The Building (Procedure) (Scotland) Regulations 1981, as amended in 1997, require all new dwellings to have an energy rating calculated in accordance with the Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP). This is the Government's chosen method for informing householders of the overall energy efficiency of a dwelling in a way that is simple and easy to understand. Dwellings are rated on a scale of 1 to 100: the more energy efficient the dwelling the higher its SAP energy rating (for the procedure see Appendix C to this Part). Although the dwelling is not required to achieve any particular level of SAP energy rating, achievement of a specified level permits reduced thermal insulation while achieving a higher specified level is one of the ways of complying with this Part.

5 All U-value calculations now take into account thermal bridging elements such as mortar joints and timber joists where they significantly affect performance.

6 In addition to requirements for the fabric there are measures for building services which now include requirements for artificial lighting for some buildings.

7 Many factors were taken into account before these standards were set, not least the often considerable technical risks which can accompany increases in thermal insulation. In this respect Part G (which deals with condensation) and Part K (ventilation) must be read in conjunction with this Part as these are all different aspects of the same constructional considerations and are only separated for ease of understanding. This interaction should be borne in mind when specifying a particular solution and it may be helpful for designers to refer simultaneously to BS 5250: 1989. Reference should also be made to the Building Research Establishment Report, BR 262, Second Edition, 1994 and where buildings incorporate a basement storey reference should be made to the Building Research Establishment Information Paper IP 14/94.

8 Finally, although all construction should have a high standard of workmanship it is particularly important that special care be taken to ensure that inadvertent thermal bridging and obstruction of ventilation pathways does not occur during construction as these will give rise to heat loss and condensation problems.

Regulation 22

Conservation of fuel and power