As the construction industry waits to get to grips with the final versions of the four new Approved Documents L (ADLs - due to come into force in April 2006) there are a lot of new elements to take into consideration. Whilst there is greater flexibility in the method, a certain amount of caution needs to be exercised in the complicated task of achieving compliance, in order to avoid leaving a building vulnerable to either failure on completion or deterioration in the future.
The change to an overall carbon dioxide emissions method of calculating compliance is now well documented and established, and the use of Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP) and Simplified Building Energy Model (SBEM) as the tools to do so is gradually permeating people’s consciousness. What is also fairly widely understood is the much broader scope that is allowed by the overall carbon dioxide emissions method. The more obvious ability to specify low air leakage rates and site installed renewable energy supply in order to achieve compliance is the prime change over the 2002 Regulations, but there needs to be a clear caveat to these approaches ...
Mike George: (20-03-06)
RE: Look gift horses in the mouth
John, very interesting article. There is a new thread on the general forum regarding foils which is drifting towards comments about your article. I thought it might be good to invite your opinion.
I must admit to being a skeptic of foils but I understand they are widely used in Europe, in particular in France. I would be interested to read your opinion of why foils are used so widely if they do not work.
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