Conference report

"We are here to save the planet," said Anne Hemming, head of Sustainable Building's Division at the ODPM and the civil servant standing in for building regulations minister Yvette Cooper. She followed up this dramatic start by explaining that the revisions to Parts L and F were part of the UK's commitment to cut carbon emissions, which were needed because "climate change is real and is happening now". Without doing something about it, she said, we “will not have a planet on which to live”.

Hemming was echoing Don Leeper's introduction, in which he set the scene by highlighting the fact that UK carbon emissions were still rising, fuel prices increasing and that the UK was likely to lose up to half its generating capacity in the next 10 years or so. The CIBSE president stated that engineers have a key role to play in minimising energy consumption in the future and called for engineers to "reaffirm their carbon fibre determination" to make a difference. "Every megawatt of electricity we don't consume, is a megawatt we do not need to generate," he pointed out.

Since buildings are responsible for 30% of the UK's carbon emissions, the amendments to Part L will help save the planet, according to Hemming. She said this was also the reason the regulation was implemented so quickly. As part of the plan to save energy, Part F had also been amended to reduce fabric air leakage to allow better control of ventilation rates of buildings.

The need for the speedy introduction of Parts L and F is also critical because buildings constructed today are likely to be around for years to come. According to Hemming, if demolition continues at its current rate, every dwelling will have to last 1000 years.

According to Ted King, from the ODPM's building regulations division, the amendments to Part L mean that a building has to meet five criteria for before it complies with the regulation, namely:

• The predicted building CO2 emission rate should be no greater than the target rate
• The performance of the building fabric, heating and hot water and lighting should comply with minimum limits
• Solar gains should be limited to prevent overheating in areas without cooling
• The building should be built as designed
• Provision should be made for the building's energy-efficient operation.

King said the April timetable for implementation was "realistic". In order to meet it, he said the government would publish a series of documents in December, including a statement concerning the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) articles 7 to 10; consultation on the Sustainable Building Code; preliminary examination of Part L competent person scheme candidates and notification of EPBD to the EU. In January, it will publish the final version of the Approved Documents.

Parts L and F will come into force in April, along with the Sustainable Building Code. King also said that around this time, the government will begin consultation on how to make the existing building stock more energy efficient after it backed away from the mandatory requirement for enhancements to existing dwellings under the current revisions to Part L.

One outcome of the new regulations that will affect the entire design team is the emphasis building control will place on a building's as-built performance, including its airtightness. King pointed out that if a scheme's as-built performance is to come close to meeting its design intention, the industry will have to ensure work on site is up to scratch, saying "We've got to reinvent the clerk of works role".

The upshot of the new regulations will be the need for a building's energy strategy to be considered from the outset. "Engineers have got to be involved in a design at the earliest opportunity," said King.

However, even with an engineer on board, compliance with the new regulations will be a challenge. Bill Gething, a partner at Feilden Clegg Bradley Architects and RIBA president's special advisor on sustainability, said: "Part L is no longer a pushover, compliance will require careful consideration". He did not think the changes to the regulations would result in a more integrated profession because "architects think about buildings differently to engineers".

However, he acknowledged that compliance would require the engineer and architect to work together on a scheme from the outset to reap the benefits of orientation, form and materials.

Currently, assessment of compliance with Part L falls to Building Control, but the complexity of regulations makes this assessment quite a challenge. However, the job of building control may become much easier under a new initiative announced by CIBSE at the conference. CIBSE is in the process of setting up a register of Low Carbon Consultants (see news, BSj 11/05). If all goes to plan, these consultants will be accepted as competent to self-certify their designs as compliant with both Part L and parts of the EPBD.

Phil Jones, an energy consultant and chair of CIBSE's Energy Performance Group, said the register would deliver "trained individuals competent to carry out the low carbon design and operation of buildings". He said: "The expectation was that building control officers would allow registered Low Carbon Consultants to sign off their own work, and that of others, as meeting Part L."

Jones explained the scheme was still under development, but membership would be voluntary and open to all building professionals providing they met the qualification criteria, passed an examination and committed to undertaking CPD. Registration and work on the training material is scheduled to begin in January. He said the register would be "a green badge of honour" and those on it would be part of a "low carbon elite".

In terms of the implications of the new legislation for building owners and occupiers, it will need to be clearly communicated, according to Mike Smith, director of engineering at BSRIA. "There is a need for a more integrated approach between business needs and engineering," he said. "Energy efficiency cannot be applied in isolation."