Filling in the gaps

It can't be easy being an ODPM official. They spend their lives being pulled between the open-toed sandal brigade and the big-booted property developers. Not a comfortable position to be in. Making regulations is a tricky balancing act – as Ted King of ODPM says: "if you are getting equal amounts of flack from both sides then you've probably got it about right".

In that sense, Ted King has done a good job with Part L – personally, I think he has done so well with this balancing act that I would pass a hat round for him if it weren't tantamount to bribery. The lack of funding didn't help him, either – the introduction of a major piece of legislation like the EPBD should be backed by significant amounts of money for development, training and dissemination. Yes, we are late. Yes, we could have gone further. But when you stand back and look at the big picture, this move to a more strategic Part L with a single CO2 target is still a major step forward and is to be welcomed.

Anyway, enough sucking up to Ted. The main question on everybody's lips now is "how's it going to work?" Is this going to be a case of good regulation but poor implementation? Unfortunately, that seems likely at the moment unless Gandalph rides over the horizon with an army of trained and accredited consultants.

Making Part L more strategic will make it easier to check (we hope). This should aid the work of the building control officers who generally don't have the time to check even the current regulations. It's all very well throwing regulation at the problem, but if you don't add practical mechanisms to make it work in practice then you can’t expect the savings in CO2.

For years, we‘ve tried exhortation, information and incentives and many of us have concluded that regulation is the only way left to improve buildings. So here we are, trying to introduce minimum standards of energy efficiency, building labelling and plant inspection. But there are a few pertinent questions that need answers. Where will those independent qualified and accredited people, referred to in EPBD article 10, come from to carry the regulations through in an independent manner? Who's going to accredit and register them?

Well, here comes CIBSE to the rescue with its plans for a register of low carbon consultants. The newly formed Energy Performance Group (EPG) already has over 500 members and is your way of keeping in touch with the development of the register, along with its supporting literature, training and examination. I've volunteered to chair the group and we will provide much-needed consultation and beta testing of the register as it evolves. The idea is to train building professionals how to check Part L has been met. If they pass a test, they go on the register.

Ultimately, the aim is that the register will encompass a competent persons scheme with full approval from ODPM, but it will not stop there. CIBSE has also recently won some funding from the Carbon Trust to take it much further: a register of elite low carbon consultants who are seeking a gold standard rather than just meeting the minimum building regulations.

So, watch this space by signing up to the EPG at www.cibse.org/energyperformance. We should have the training up and running in spring. Who knows how it might pan out, but right now the CIBSE register aims to be the means of accreditation on energy for those designing and operating buildings.

Will Part L and EPBD work? Time will tell, but CIBSE and the EPG will do their utmost to make it a success. If we don't, then who will? Good regulation needs good implementation – so lets stop carping and make it work.