Transcript Slide 1

the code for sustainable homes
in practice
why housing?
● 200,000 new homes per year (CLG 2007)
● 30% of the UK’s CO² emissions
● 55% of timber used in the UK goes into homes, much of it from unsustainable
sources
● water – average 150-180 litres / person / day
● it can impact on how new homes and
communities are developed and managed:
- determines our lifestyle decisions
- overall impact on the environment
- food we eat
- waste we generate
- way we travel
housing at peacehaven by LCE Architects
key features of the code
● nine categories of environmental sustainability
● applied at the level of an individual code dwelling type
● 2 stage process – final certificate at post construction review stage
● mandatory standards for energy, water, minerals, waste and surface water
run-off
● higher minimum standards for energy and water to be met to achieve higher
ratings
● 6 level rating system – a tool for marketing
minimum standards
categories
flexibility
energy efficiency
6 levels of minimum standards one for
each level of the code
water efficiency
3 levels of minimum standards each
covering two levels of the code
materials
A single basic standard at code entry
level
surface water run-off
waste
pollution
health & well-being
management
ecology
No minimum standards
level 6
level 5
level 4
level 3
level 2
level 1
number of buildings
aspirational
environmental
standards
minimal
excellent
very
good
regulatory minimum
ecohome
s
major differences to ecohomes
ecohomes
the code
site assessment
individual dwelling assessment
usually ‘design stage’ only
assessed in 2 stages- design stage and
upon completion
flexible standards in all categories
fixed minimum standards (thresholds)
for some categories
absolute carbon levels
energy based on percentage
improvement over building regulations
new points for ‘lifetime homes’
locational credits related to transport
and amenities omitted
a two stage process
● design stage
- based on design drawings, specifications and
commitments
- results in interim certificate of compliance
● post construction review
- based on the design stage information
- confirmation of compliance through site records and visual
inspection
- code certificate awarded based on compliance at this stage
the code for sustainable homes assessment process
assessor advises on
design process to
gain required code
rating
e
d
developer
housing
association
architect
as each code variant
dwelling type is
completed, assessor
gathers evidence to
complete the post
construction review
report
choose
a code
assessor
-with a code
site-
c
b
a
BRE
training
and
licensing
licensed
assessors
register
site with
BRE
under
current
version
of code
design stage
report issued
to BRE for
interim
certification
BRE issues
interim
certificate
and
carries out
quality
assurance
interim
code
results
are
stored
on
databas
e
report is
submitted
to BRE on
each code
variant
dwelling
type
final
code
results
are
stored
on
databas
e
BRE issues
final code
certificate
on each
code
variant
dwelling
type and
carries out
quality
assurance
code issue categories
well-being
management
● energy / CO²
● waste
● water
● pollution
● materials
● health &
● surface water run-off
●
● ecology
key issues
● mandatory performance levels for 6 key issues at entry level:
- energy efficiency
- water efficiency
- surface water management
- site waste management
- household waste management
- use of materials
housing at dagenham by LCE Architects in association with Bisset
Adams
● higher minimum thresholds for energy and water at upper levels of the
code