Energy efficiency lighting standards in the spotlight

gazza — Tue, 22 Oct 2013 23:00:00 +0000

gazza Wed, 23/10/2013

The lighting industry has been granted time to prepare for amendments to building regulations centred on the conservation of fuel and power. Those who were expecting changes to Part L of Building Regulations to be enforced this month will now have to wait until April 2014.
Parliament has been informed that changes to Part L of Building Regulations will be enforced from April and not October as expected. This delay has occurred more than a year since the consultation on Part L was closed. Energy saving lighting fixtures are at the forefront of the amendments, as changes will impact greatly on new homes and non-domestic buildings, which must include more energy efficient lighting, heating and energy saving features.
The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Baroness Hanham has announced the amendments will now be enforced in April to allow the lighting industry time to prepare for the changes. Whether it’s workshop lighting, energy efficient office lighting or energy saving warehouse lighting, the energy efficiency standards in non-domestic buildings must increase to 9 per cent under the new changes. New-build homes will have to be 6 per cent more efficient than the current regulations state.
Although the amendments were announced in July due to the last day that the House of Lords were sitting, they will not be published until later in the year, outlining government’s position, with the intention of being put into practise in April 2014.
The Department for Communities and Local Government’s Impact Assessment on Part L Regulations states: “Action at the point of build can ‘lock in’ efficient design, reducing energy/heat demand and future retrofit costs. Regulation also has a role in setting energy efficiency standards, where owners decide to carry out building work to existing properties.”
Part L refers to Part L of the building regulations. Parts A to P refer to all different Building Regulations which are split into different sectors and subjects. Part L covers just conservation of fuel and power and is split into four sections.
The lighting industry must also wait a number of weeks to see if government will introduce the new energy efficiency metric, the lighting energy numerical indicator (LENI) under the new amendments. LENI has already received support from key lighting bodies. However, the Department for Communities and Local Government have indicated they intend to meet a minimum luminaire efficacy of 60 luminaire lumens per circuit-watt as an alternative to the introduction of the proposed LENI metric put forward in the 2012 consultation.

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Part L

Part L Changes Delayed Until April 2014

gazza — Thu, 26 Sep 2013 23:00:00 +0000

Part L Changes Delayed Until April 2014

gazza Fri, 27/09/2013

Just over a week ago Dextra Lighting posted a blog called "Government expected to publish response to WEEE regulations this month". It now appears that changes to Part L of the building regulations will be enforced from 6 April 2014, not October 2013 as originally planned.
Part L of the building regulations cover the conservation of fuel and power and is broken down into four sections:
L1A New dwellings
L1B Existing Dwellings
L2A New Buildings other than Dwellings
L2B Existing Buildings other than dwellings
Consultation on Part L closed over a year ago and the extra time has come as a relief to many in the industry allowing more time to prepare for the changes.
To find out more about what the changes are and other sources around the web visit Dextra Lighting. They have recently published an informative blog about it here: http://www.dextralighting.co.uk/energy-saving-lighting/spotlight-on-ener...

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Part L