Government unveils ‘radical’ energy efficiency standards for homes and office

All homes and business premises in the UK will be required to meet new energy efficiency standards that reduce energy consumption and lower bills by 2025, in line with the Government’s new Future Homes Standard. New homes will be required to have a reduced carbon footprint of 31%  compared to current levels, the Government revealed […]

Green Finance Institute gathers businesses for taskforce to decarbonise UK heating systems

The Green Finance Institute has gathered together representatives from a variety of businesses with experts from local authorities, policy and science sector to create a new taskforce tasked with decarbonising heating systems in the UK. Heating and hot water for homes account for almost two-fifths of the UK’s annual energy consumption and one-fifth of greenhouse […]

UKGBC urges business leaders to embrace net zero measures

Syntegra Managing Director Alan King is fortunate to be a member of the UK Green Building Council’s Leaders Network which recently received a very useful update on key developments in the built environment sector and what organisations can focus on in a bid to achieve net zero carbon by 2050. Below are some of the […]

Zero carbon – international roadmap agreed

The Mayor of London has pledged to expand standards for zero-carbon new homes to all new buildings from next year as part of an international move to create more sustainable cities. Sadiq Khan is one of 19 city leaders around the world to sign the Net Zero Carbon Buildings Declaration to introduce planning regulations that […]

Building Regulations Part L 2013

Consultation documents were released at the end of January for 2012 for the next version of Building Regulations. they are expected to come into force by October 2013 subject to any transitional arrangements. The consultation is presented into 4 sections: Section 1 outlines the consultation approach and then presents proposals to change various technical aspects […]

Wales’ One Planet Development Scheme

In July 2010, Wales introduced One Planet Developments; a national planning policy to encourage low environmental impact developments. This is in response to studies showing that, if everyone consumed natural resources at the rate that Wales currently does, it would take 3 planets to support everyone. It has been concluded that Wales must reduce its […]

The Future of Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP) Calculations

The Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP) is a method for evaluating and comparing the energy performance of dwellings in the UK. They provide a standardised method to underpin the UK’s environmental policies relating to energy performance in dwellings. Based on predefined comfort and occupancy conditions, SAPs look at both the energy consumed by a dwelling and […]

Code for Sustainable Homes

The Code for Sustainable Homes was launched in December 2006.  It replaced EcoHomes in England since April 2007.  The aim is to make the Code for Sustainable Homes as a single standard to achieve sustainable building for new build homes in UK. The Code for Sustainable Homes set 6 levels of efficiency, with level 6 […]

Housebuilders reject green homes proposal

Housebuilders have called for the Government to drop its proposed upgrade to energy efficiency regulations, as the industry determines how well existing homes are performing. The House Builders’ Federation (HBF) said the government should disregard the proposed 2013 increase in the energy performance of new build homes in its submission to the government’s Part L […]

Building Magazine’s 30 things to know about Part L

1.  Part L is the Part of the Building Regulations that covers the conservation of fuel and power in all structures, domestic and non-domestic. 2.  The proposals are intended to be the next step towards all new buildings being zero carbon from 2016. 3.  The government proposes the carbon emission standards for new homes be […]

Sustainable Property Assessments

Reducing the carbon footprint is now a major strategy in government and any commercial and residential developments must now adhere to current sustainable energy legislation’s.  Many more regulations are being planned over the forthcoming years with the objective being that by 2020 all new buildings will be zero carbon and carbon emissions reduced by 34%. […]

Only 31 homes reach code level 6

Only 31 homes have been built to level 6 of the Code for Sustainable Homes since it was introduced four years ago, according to communities department research, writes Thomas Lane. The figures are revealed in a report published last week that shows how many homes have received the government’s “zero carbon” certification since the introduction […]

It’s all change for the building regulations

In recent months there have been significant changes made to the building regulations, with several new approved documents and consolidated Building Regulations 2010 published. While the latest changes to Part L are not on the scale of 2006 revision, there is plenty of detail under the surface. It is important to remember that Part L […]

How to Build Sustainably

How to Build Sustainably Renewable Heat Incentive Earlier this month it was announced that the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) was £860m set aside for technologies such as biomass boilers, ground –source heat pumps, thermal solar panels, and bio-methane projects, which use organisms to break down organic waste to produce the gas. From July this year, […]

Taking the Timber route to Zero Carbon

The journey towards zero carbon is now underway, and where once, it appeared to be a very long time away in the future, it is now only 5 years away. Zero carbon for new builds will become mandatory in 2016 and many window manufacturers are working closely with building designers to assess their requirements now […]