Electrical Contracting News (ECN) October 2016 | Page 35

DISTRIBUTION BOARDS

BOARD MEETING

The market demand to help satisfy
the requirements of Part L2 has
driven development in this area.

Ian Smith, marketing manager at Hager, highlights why electrical contractors and engineers
should take advantage of new and innovative integrated power and lighting distribution boards
which now also offer plug-in metering capability. The benefits include increased ease and
reduced cost of on site installation, as well as helping end users satisfy regulatory responsibilities
when it comes to monitoring and measuring energy consumption in commercial buildings.

F

or the past 10 years the
legislative requirements
set out in Part L2 of the
Building Regulations
for England and Wales
(2006) have driven
the need to measure
and manage energy
consumption in non-domestic buildings.

Part L2
On the back of global moves to address
the impact of climate change, the UK
government developed a wide ranging
Climate Change programme designed
to increase energy efficiency and reduce
carbon emissions. One of the central
initiatives of the programme was the
adoption of the EU’s Energy Performance
of Buildings Directive, which in turn led to
the creation of Part L2.

A key factor behind Part L2 was
to create a scenario where building
managers, landlords and tenants could
clearly identify where energy is used,
where it is being wasted and where energy
efficiencies could be implemented across
a building. It put the onus firmly on building
operators to proactively and accurately
measure energy use for building electrical
installations. An added responsibility also
came in the form of the EU’s Measuring
Instruments Directive (MID), designed to
ensure a high level of safety and reliability
in measuring instruments.
For the commercial marketplace, the
presence of Part L2A (which covers
new buildings and applies to all new
non-domestic premises) and Part L2B,
which covers existing non-domestic
buildings, requires that organisations using
submetering should be able to provide
detailed information about where they

are consuming energy, with the proviso
that at least 90 per cent of estimated
annual consumption of fuel sources can
be accounted for. In practical terms, this

means, for instance, separate metering for
motor control centres for fans and pumps,
boiler installations, chiller facilities, electric
humidifiers and electrical distribution boards.

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12/09/2016 12:36