| The New Scottish Building Regulations 2007 |
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The United Kingdom as a member of the EU is obliged to us the "Energy Performance of Buildings Directive 2002/91/EC", where this regulation requires a methodology being proven for the calculation of the energy performance of buildings. The government proposes to reduce carbon emissions by at least 60% by 2050 for all new houses, which will force changes in ways that buildings are designed. Historically most energy within a building is consumed for heating, hot water generation and lighting and this is where Consulting Engineers must concentrate. The result is that an updated edition of the Scottish Building Regulations will come into force on 1st of May 2007. The major changes include section 6 which covers an energy usage for buildings. From May all projects submitted to Building Control have to comply with the new Technical Handbook. For more information, please visit the SBSA website. To help us deal with the new requirements for non domestic buildings BRE has developed a simplified tool called SBEM (Simplified Building Energy Method). SBEM is primarily a database software tool which calculates monthly energy use and carbon emissions of a building and gives a description of the building, construction, geometry and mechanical / electrical building services. The software is free of charge and can be downloaded from www.ncm.bre.co.uk. Other software is available to RSP i.e. Hevacomp, IES and can be additionally used to prove compliance with the above regulations. There is a big debate about the new regulations and software, both politically and in the scientific/engineering fields, however it should be concluded that this is a good start to save energy and our planet's resources. The new law forces all concerned in the engineering process to take care about "new buildings". Swords at the ready!! The above article was written by Marek Oraczewski, who is an engineer based in our Glasgow office. Mainly sourced from the SBEM website, the Building Regulations website and Building Services Journals. |