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Services: Building Regulations Part L - Design & Compliance

 

Technical Guidance Document Part L (TGDL) is the part of the Building Regulations that deals with the conservation of fuel and power. Recent releases of TGDL include 2002, 2005 and 2007. TGDL 2002 was reasonably straight forward and compliance could be shown in a relatively simple way through u-values and application of some basic principles regarding services. Subsequent releases of TGDL have increased in complexity. TGDL 2007 requires a detailed analysis of predicted building performance to ensure characteristics of the building fall within limiters regarding energy consumption, carbon emissions and the use of renewable energies. In TGDL 2007, the main tool used to show compliance is the Dwellings Energy Assessment Procedure (DEAP) as used for energy ratings (BERs). 

SES are able to offer services to assess compliance and provide advice on meeting compliance as necessary. As assessing compliance is strongly related to energy rating procedures, TGDL compliance is often carried out as a package service with BER certification.

The following sections provide an overview of the main compliance issues and show the history of recent version. The overviews are summaries only. Only the main compliance issues are provided. Detailed information on compliance can be obtained by downloading the technical guidance documents from http://www.environ.ie. TGDL is one of several technical guidance documents ranging from A to M. TGDF (Ventilation) and TGDJ (Heat Producing Appliances are also important documents in relation to the thermal performance of buildings.

 

Overview: New Dwellings

 Building Regulations TGDL 2002

 Building Regulations 2002

  • In force from 1st January 2003.
  • Previous regulations applied if work started before 31st December 2002 or planning permission applied for before 31st December 2002 and subtantial work (external walls erected) by 31st December 2005.
  • Compliance could be shown by the elemental heat loss method (walls, floors, roofs, windows etc. to be below maximum u-values specified) or the overall heat loss method (calculated average area weighted u-value below specified maximum or Heat Energy Rating (HER) assessment (simplified thermal model of dwelling showing energy consumption to be below specified maximum)
  • Compliance also required basic specifications with respect to the heating system and hot water.

 

 Building Regulations TGDL 2005 Building Regulations 2005
  • In force from 1st July 2006.
  • Previous regulations applied if work started before 30th June 2006 or planning permission applied for before 30th June 2006 and subtantial work (external walls erected) by 30th June 2008.
  • Compliance can be shown by the elemental heat loss method (walls, floors, roofs, windows etc. to be below maximum u-values specified) or the overall heat loss method (calculated average area weighted u-value below specified maximum. In addition to the elemental or overall requiremnts it must be shown that the carbon emissions of the dwelling are below a specified maximum using the Dwellings Energy Assessment Procedure (DEAP) calculation tool available from SEI. 
  • Compliance also required basic specifications with respect to the heating system and hot water.

 

For typical dwellings, carbon emission requirements can be met using industry standard specifications. A typical house would reach a BER rating of B3 / C1 where the requirements were just met.

 Building Regulations TGDL 2007 Building Regulations 2007
  • In force from 1st July 2008.
  • Previous regulations applied if work started before 30th June 2008 or planning permission applied for before 30th June 2008 and subtantial work (external walls erected) by 1st July 2009.
  • Compliance can be shown by meeting the following criteria 
    - area weighted average elemental u-value
    - Carbon Coefficient of Performance (CPC)
    - Energy Coefficient of Performance (EPC)
    - providing a specified quantity of primary energy from renewable sources
    - demonstrating through testing that air leakage requirements are met
  • The Dwellings Energy Assessment Procedure (DEAP) calculation tool available from SEI is one of the main tools required to demonstrate compliance. 
  • Compliance also required basic specifications with respect to the heating system and hot water.

 

For typical dwellings, the requirements represent an approximate 40% reduction in primary energy requirements compared to the 2005 building regulations. There are many more compliance criteria that need to be met simultaneously than the previous regulations and a typical house will achieve a B1 / B2 rating where the regulations are just met. 

 

 

 

 

Overview: Buildings Other Than Dwellings

  
Building Regulations TGDL 2005 Building Regulations 2005
  • In force from 1st July 2006.
  • Previous regulations applied if work started before 30th June 2006 or planning permission applied for before 30th June 2006 and subtantial work (external walls erected) by 30th June 2008.
  • Compliance can be shown by the elemental heat loss method (walls, floors, roofs, windows etc. to be below maximum u-values specified) or the overall heat loss method (calculated average area weighted u-value below specified maximum).  
  • Compliance also required basic specifications with respect to the heating system and hot water.

TGDL has not been updated since the 2005 regulations were published. However, additional Building Energy Rating (BER) requirements are in force for buildings other than dwellings where planning permission was applied for after 1st July 2008.

 
Last Updated ( Friday, 21 November 2008 13:57 )
 
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