I would strongly advise media editors to drop in and emulate the ‘Integrated Approach’ strategy in their pages as soon as possible.

An ideal venue at Manchester’s UMIST complete with resident commendable hospitality and supporting literature. The only tragedy was that so few turned up to benefit from an excellent presentation. A total of 15 delegates though I gather far more were expected. My papers arrived only three days before the event so I had no advance warning that my application had been successful. I was not alone. At least one other delegate applied in June and received confirmation three days before the event. Details of the event as supplied by the EST are contained in their pdf download.

The seminar went much further than we have in our Feature on Part L (J) therefore I was to learn a great deal of detail I was not aware of before. Being thoroughly steeped in the background was enormously helpful, thus I readily understood what was going on throughout the day, bearing in mind my background in construction. Anyone relatively new to the subject might find the day hard work but entirely comprehensible nonetheless.

The quality of the speakers made all the difference. One an industry consultant with commanding hands-on experience, the other a BRE scientist who dealt with the gritty subject of heat losses. The BRE incidentally are the real power behind http://www.boilers.org.uk as well as much of the literature that emerges from DEFRA, ODPM and elsewhere. Delivery was from the head and the heart rather than simply from a script.

Comfortingly I don’t need to amend anything on the subject of Part L (J) at Gas-News. Part of my reason for going was to ensure we had got it right. What we have not detailed is the background to SAP ratings and carbon index. Those subjects are not immediately necessary to Installers in day to day working but it does help to understand the history to current thinking.

My personal view is that SAP ratings should be dropped in favour of the carbon index. SAP ratings take into account fuel costs therefore theoretically as I see it, any price drop in fuel, however unlikely, could subvert the spirit of Kyoto. Focus should be on the carbon index in future and my guess is that will become the benchmark for tomorrow’s thinking.

Anyone serious about energy efficiency, including media editors, should adopt the Integrated Approach which must include the subjects of construction fabric (eco-friendly products and design), ventilation (designed and accidental), as well as the now well known heating and hot water topics. In the latter case there is still too much parochial thinking in the media. Controls and installation best practice need to have their profile raised significantly

When Gas-News (regainuk.org) first started I made some bold predictions regarding the probable evolution of energy efficiency. Some I recognise will have seemed absurd or eccentric then. We are already well beyond those predictions and previously mentioned here, is the subject of air leakage, now firmly on the statute books.

In the simplest possible terms, boffins can and routinely now do tightness testing on new dwellings. No not the gas installation. Sealing off all legitimate orifices, they place a room under positive pressure and using the time honoured manometer principle that we are all familiar with (?), measure the performance. Woe betide any room which does not support 50 pascals.

Excuse the pun but as Installers we need to be aware that adventitious allowance may go out of the window in future (my opinion) Regardless of the regulations I never rely on AA anyway. Anyone intrepid enough and interested in further reading on Air Leakage may wish to look at an ODPM document (hefty pdf download). Not something we would host in our Downloads section as it is a bit off topic but it may be of interest to those engaged in construction thinking, as I am.

The hugely popular and ubiquitous conservatory will now be left out in the cold, quite literally. Regardless of double glazing and low emissivity glass, they are most certainly not eco-friendly. In essence therefore construction design will assume a conservatory does not exist and the superstructure of homes must reflect that. Heating conservatories will not be encouraged and must have zone control where that advice is ignored, therefore good news for TACMA.

A difficult nut to crack this one. No one would (dare) stop the take up of conservatories and I am certain equally that no one will stop householders from heating them, with or without zone control. I have no doubt whatsoever (be honest) that zone controls will be set to match whole house defaults, so why not take a fresh look at this, with a view to reducing heat loss ? We predict here a spate of frost bursts in the future.

News to me (which is why I went) was the weight of obligation under the heading of general construction. Strip a roof for re-tiling and the whole roof must then comply with building regulations, including thermal insulation (and presumably but not mentioned, cross flow ventilation). Similarly, internal walls stripped of plaster should have their thermal conductance reviewed. Too much for Gas-News to detail but you have the gist.

Incidentally, as a reminder, Part L applies to England and Wales. Scotland has Part J which differs significantly on renovation work. Wales does not (yet) enjoy real devolution and though ironically Wales can teach us all a great deal about energy conservation, Wales still has to play follow-my-lead.

One bizarre anomaly, talking of renovation work, concerns the status of any superstructure utilised for dwellings. Where a material change of use applies, standards are far more onerous for the creation of dwellings. Thus if you convert a former office block into dwellings, the outcome could be very different from a totally refurbished building previously used for dwellings. If you’re buying one, the former would offer you more benefit. A funny old world ?

Now my favourite bit. Good old simple U values. Not any more people. I’ve just now realised that heat loss calculators may become collectors items ? Blame the computer if you like but I doubt the new method of calculation would have been considered without the number crunching power of the computer being available.

There are compelling reasons for diversifying. I’ve always said that (yes I have) and now we have a classic example of why. One of my regular tasks was to investigate complaints of alleged poor heating on new homes. Back to basics as always, I would start by checking heat loss calculations manually using the BS 5449 model as used by new build designers. By the way, they were never found wanting. Straight forward that even for an humble plumber like me; That is all now history.

If anyone wants me to perform the same task now they will have to dig deep. And I mean deep. A simple plan of Plot 36 will no longer suffice. I will need detailed specifications as well. That must include materials used and details of manufacturer’s claims in re thermal transmittance.

A sheltered wall might be the external wall of a house, protected by an integral garage. The sheltered wall principle offers a trade-off. Previously it was normal practice to assume such a wall was indeed an external wall. Of course there is nothing to stop anyone doing that now but the new standards are tough and in order to meet the ‘Target U value method of compliance’ all the help you can get (trade-offs) may be essential.

Like I said you will have to dig deep and now you know why. There is of course essential software in support though no one seems prepared to offer definitive recommendations. Might be safer to adopt BRE software.

The incredibly detailed approach to heat loss calculation follows an entirely logical approach but is bordering on the ludicrous now. I have no doubt the rules were designed to offer maximum flexibility and at the same time thwart the abundant cowboy entrepreneurs who would subvert the energy efficiency cause given even a slight chance, in favour of pecuniary interest.

There is an elemental option but that only applies to new build. Basically deemed-to-satisfy construction detailing. If you like a bet I reckon you should put your money on the carbon index model. It will be easier to adopt the carbon index model and indeed that option is already available if a second opinion is required.

I have much to read and a number of exercise sheets to toy with. Many thanks for an entertaining and informative day. I hope media editors will sign up and start to deliver the whole message. Who is going to be the first ?