Builders

Legislation and research

NHBC is able to help you meet your energy efficiency legislative requirements - below are various areas where these requirements occur:

Building control regulations (Part L1) - England & Wales
Building control requirements (Section 6) - Scotland
EPBD requirements (EPC)
HIP requirements (PEA)

Building Regulations

Approved Document L 1a (new dwellings) of the Building Regulations relates to the conservation of fuel and power. It provides guidance of the required level of performance as well as practical examples.

A copy of the full AD L 1a for new dwellings, updated in 2006, is available on the Planning Portal, which is an external site.

For extensions (AD L1b) and commercial properties (AD L2a), refer to the relevant versions of the regulations here.

Code for Sustainable Homes

The Code for Sustainable Homes is playing an increasingly important role in the development of new homes. Air tightness is is an important part of the energy efficiency requirements, notably the heat loss parameter and dwelling emission rate, as follows.

ENE1 - Dwelling emissions rate seeks to limit the CO2 emissions from the dwelling, with up to 15 credits possible depending on the percentage improvement of DER over TER.
ENE2 - Building fabric seeks to minimise heat loss to future proof the energy efficiency of the property and counts for up to 2 credits if the heat loss is less than 1.10 HLP.

The latest Technical guide also says that 'minimum standards for fabric performance and air leakage are also likely to be introduced.'

For more details, visit our Sustainability section.

NHBC Foundation

The NHBC Foundation carries out a number of research projects to provide effective guidance on key issues affecting energy efficiency.

Ground source heat pumps - report NF5
A review of Microgeneration and renwable technology - report NF7
Zero Carbon homes: what does it mean to homeowners and housebuilders? - report NF9
Modern methods of construction - report NF1

A full list of reports is available on the NHBC Foundation website.

Latest news - England and Wales

On 9 September 2008, the government announced further clarification of the regulations, with regard to requirements for homes from 1 October 2008.

Effectively, the transitional arrangements relating to Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) for new build have now ended, meaning that from 1 October all completed properties still for sale require an EPC even if exempt from HIP requirements.

Landlords should also note that from 1 October they should provide an EPC during any change of tenancy.

The validity period of an EPC has been increased from one to three years. There were further changes for commercial and public properties.

CLG guidance on EPCs when selling homes.

Latest news - Northern Ireland

EPCs has become mandatory in Northern Ireland for all new construction from 30 September 2008, as announced at the end of May 2008 by the Department of Finance and Personnel .

The regulations provide for a 3-phased implementation of the certification requirements as follows:
30 June 2008: Sale of existing dwellings
30 September 2008: Construction of new buildings
30 December 2008: Rental of existing buildings; sale of existing non-dwellings

The introduction of these requirements fulfils an obligation placed on all Member States by an EU Directive on the energy performance of buildings. The public sector will come into the spotlight too because from the end of 2008, larger public buildings will have to display energy performance certificates. The regulations also require regular inspection of air-conditioning systems.