National Ventilation helps housing developers meet new Building Regulations

March 20, 2023 Editor

National Ventilation is helping architects, developers and contractors with developments of less than 100 plots to comply with amended Building Regulations.

The new 2021 edition of Part F (Means of Ventilation), L (Conservation of Fuel and Power) and O (Overheating) came into force on 15 June 2022 in England, but there is a 12-month grace period, which ends June 2023. Following this, each individual housing plot must follow these regulations, to comply. Historically, Building Regulations applied to each site, this has now changed to each plot so if a site designed to previous regulations has not started every plot by June 2023, any remaining plots would need to be redesigned to meet the 2021 edition of the Building Regulations.

Fortunately, National Ventilation offers a free whole-house ventilation design service for design and build projects to ensure the ventilation systems will both work within the buildings and meet the Building Regulations. The company also offers a very wide range of products to ensure developers have the ventilation solutions they need, including a range of recycled plastic products to offer more sustainable choices for its customers.

Published on 15 December 2021, the new Part F and Part L of the Building Regulations are set to help the UK deliver net zero, including a reduction of almost a third less carbon for new homes. But as buildings become more airtight, to improve efficiency and help achieve this goal, it is crucial to consider indoor air quality (IAQ) too. The new Part F is therefore seen as a vital development since it sets out important changes, which will accelerate the move towards low carbon ventilation as an industry standard while improving IAQ.

For new build residential homes, the new Building Regulations require higher rates of ventilation to protect resident health. This means a move to more advanced ventilation solutions, such as Mechanical Ventilation with Heat Recovery (MVHR). National Ventilation’s dedicated whole-house ventilation design service for developers of 100 plots or less is a free service that provides a full whole-house ventilation design, specifying the correct sized ventilation unit and the correct type and lengths of ducting. It details unit calculations, a full kit list, recommended duct routes, as well as a pre-order site visit where necessary.

“Energy efficient MVHR provides excellent indoor air quality and is an important element of lowering carbon emissions from the built environment, making it the whole-house ventilation solution of choice to meet the new Building Regulations. However, it does require specialist knowledge to design a system. This is where our design team comes in,” explains Christian Rehn, National Sales Manager at National Ventilation. “Our free ventilation system design service helps developers ensure their projects comply with the new Building Regulations, giving peace of mind.”

National Ventilation has a very wide range of ventilation solutions, including MVHR, to improve IAQ and meet the new Building Regulations. The company is also working hard to make its ventilation more sustainable; this means it is easier for developers to make more sustainable choices while still benefitting from the quality and performance National Ventilation is known for. National Ventilation is committed to continuously improving its products’ energy performance, reducing waste throughout a product’s lifecycle, and significantly increasing the use of recycled plastic from the circular economy in the manufacturing of its products.

National Ventilation’s sustainability targets are geared towards achieving significant improvements by the end of FY2025. Over 70% of product sales will be from its energy efficient product ranges by the end of FY2025, while 90% of products manufactured will be made from a recycled source. National Ventilation is further aiming to minimise its environmental impact by working with its suppliers, partners, and the wider industry to tackle climate change, reduce waste and protect nature.

The company already has products in its range which are made from recycled plastic. The transformation from virgin to recycled plastic followed significant R&D, including extensive material and product testing, so customers can expect the same great product performance. National Ventilation also offers a wide range of rigid ducting, which is made from recycled plastic. All products that use recycled plastic are clearly labelled with a recycled sticker, so customers can easily identify products made with recycled plastic. The company is now working to extend the number of products made from recycled plastic and offer increasingly energy efficient products too. For further information on National Ventilation’s sustainability goals, visit https://www.nationalventilation.co.uk/sustainable/.

To take up the free design service architects, developers and builders can visit www.nationalventilation.co.uk/design-service/ where they can upload their building drawings. Once the design team has the project’s building drawings it will then produce free professional REVIT ventilation designs for the customer. The service will help in designing and specifying whole house ventilation, such as MVHR, with National Ventilation providing a free step-by-step guide to explain the process.