INDUSTRY FOCUS building practices to a new awareness of the minimum standards required by the amended legislation. Although challenging at the time, this has also proved beneficial, because it has forced many professionals to be more conscious of what they are designing. So, rather than designing something just to look“ nice”, one is now forced to implement functional design principles that have been around since the dawn of architecture, when buildings were intended to be functional elements in harmony with their environment, rather than just objects of beauty or status symbols.
INDUSTRY FOCUS building practices to a new awareness of the minimum standards required by the amended legislation. Although challenging at the time, this has also proved beneficial, because it has forced many professionals to be more conscious of what they are designing. So, rather than designing something just to look“ nice”, one is now forced to implement functional design principles that have been around since the dawn of architecture, when buildings were intended to be functional elements in harmony with their environment, rather than just objects of beauty or status symbols.
This means that while many are willing to try to comply, the new regulations do increase the possibility of errors. I was recently in a house where the water from the hot tap would run hot for about five seconds and then go cold – because the hot-water system was not going through the geyser and was feeding direct from the cold water supply, siphoning off a little hot water along the way.
Ultimately, the responsibility of enforcing the regulations lies with the architectural professional.
Architects often have to educate their clients, most of whom are not familiar with the regulations. It can be difficult to explain to a client that the regulations require certain non-aesthetic but costly building solutions, and that some luxury design items may have to be sacrificed in order to comply. It is all about changing the mindset of the public in general and the client in particular, and embracing the new legislation as a valuable resource. And although there may be additional costs upfront in the building process, energy efficiencies will recover those costs over time.
The new regulations have also slightly increased production time and the architectural professional’ s workload, as detailed calculations have to be made of hot-water consumption, building orientation, window efficiency and lighting energy consumption. This requires more detailed drawings at the council submission stage of the project.
Many contractors and subcontractors are not as familiar with the building regulations as they should be. It can be challenging to tell them that the way they have been building is wrong, and to persuade them to follow the drawings and specifications explicitly. For example, very few plumbers know how to install a hot-water system with a ring main system. Even though these regulations have been around for decades, they have never been properly enforced by the local authorities, so many installations have been done incorrectly and inefficiently.
Cost implications of the legislation
The legislation has affected building costs, but not exorbitantly. An obvious example is the window regulations for houses in areas where large picture windows are popular to take advantage of the views. This may require large areas of double glazing, which is at least double the price of single glazing. Heat pumps and solar systems are expensive, and LED light bulbs are much more expensive than the old-fashioned incandescent bulbs.
However, one must offset these costs against the energy saving in the long run. For example, a heat pump is 70 % more efficient than a geyser element, LEDs use about 80 % less energy than incandescent bulbs, and insulation and thermally efficient windows reduce heating and cooling costs. Taking these factors into account, the long-term savings are substantial.
Creative solutions and software to assist with cost management
The calculations required to maximise thermal, light and water efficiency are very complicated, so most architects use software specifically designed to calculate the most efficient way of conforming to the regulations, or even – as I usually recommend to my clients – going beyond them in energy and water saving. For example, I recently completed a residence that required only single glazing, but I was fortunate enough to