NEWS | DIGEST IN BRIEF Wind comfort for City Britains first planning rules for wind restrictions have been created by the governing body for the Square Mile. The City of London Corporation has worked with wind engineers to set limits for acceptable wind speeds created by tall buildings. Developers constructing buildings higher than 25m will be required to show they will not cause problematic gusts at street level. The code states that average wind speeds should be restricted to 18mph for pedestrian areas. Wind speed in areas where people stand such as at bus stops should not exceed an average of 13mph. In areas with outdoor seating, average speeds should not exceed 6mph. BPN calls for once in a lifetime regulations change Owners should measure CO2 emissions of existing buildings, says network An industry network has urged the government to seize a once in a lifetime opportunity to reshape Building Regulations and link building safety to environmental performance. In a letter to the Committee on Climate Change (CCC), the Building Performance Network (BPN) set out the connection between fire safety, carbon performance, protecting vulnerable people in their homes, and health and wellbeing. BPN said there was a unique opportunity to New homes to be given 600m boost The Chancellor, Sajid Javid, has promised to release more than 600m from his Housing Infrastructure Fund to support the delivery of 50,000 new homes plus five new road and rail projects in London, central Bedfordshire and Essex. More than half of the money is going to Essex County Council for highways and rail improvements. I want to see more homes built in the places people want to live, so more people realise the dream of home ownership, said Javid. But we need the roads, rail links and schools to support the families living in those homes, which is why I set up a fund to put in place the infrastructure to unlock new homes in these areas. So far, it has provided 1.3bn to help deliver up to 76,500 homes. Project scales up solar storage heating Caplin Solar is introducing its Earth Energy Bank storage technology, and photovoltaic thermal panels and heat pumps in 47 homes, as part of a commercial project. Designed to generate more energy than is used in a home, the technology will be used at the Priors Hall Park development in Northamptonshire. Project sponsor Electric Corby has received 750,000 (684,195) in EU funding to evaluate potential benefits of transforming buildings through the combined use of heat pumps, thermal storage and photovoltaic thermal panels. Building owners should measure annual carbon emissions, says BPN intervene in the governments consultation on the Building Regulations, and it urged the CCC to use its position as the governments adviser to ensure the regulations were reformed to take account of in-use carbon emissions and energy use. The network, which is managed by CIBSE, represents a broad range of stakeholders with an understanding of carbon emissions from buildings. Despite increasing complexity in the modelling of proposed buildings over the past two decades, carbon emissions from new buildings are not falling nearly fast enough to meet our national carbon reduction targets, the letter stated. It added that performance gaps could not be checked under Building Regulations because they have no locus beyond the completion and handover of the building. The Building Act currently prevents moves to assess actual carbon performance because it limits the scope of Building Regulations beyond practical completion. However, the Act will almost certainly require changes to deliver the proposed radical overhaul of the regulation of buildings and fire safety set out in the Building a Safer Future consultation, the BPN said. It proposed new rules compelling building owners to measure annual carbon emissions as part of the health and safety strategy for existing buildings. Where the safety case suggests refurbishment work is needed, the opportunity to consider improving the energy and emissions performance of the building should be addressed, the letter stated. Ideal claims all high-rise boiler replacements breach regulations Manufacturer Ideal Boilers says boiler replacements in high-rise buildings no longer comply with Building Regulations. The companys chief technical officer, Elaine Lancaster, has written to several local authorities to express concern that an amendment to the regulations created in response to the Grenfell Tower fire has effectively outlawed the flues supplied with all boilers used in buildings above 18 metres. The amendment, introduced last December, bans the use of combustible materials on the external walls of high-rise residential buildings. Lancaster explained that most boiler manufacturers provide a flue comprising a steel-painted outer air duct and internal polypropylene plastic duct. As the inner flue material is classed as a combustible material, according to the standard, this type of flue can no longer be fitted to achieve compliance with Building Regulations, wrote Lancaster. A review being carried out by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government could take up to nine months, and Lancaster said it was unclear whether this would deliver a stay of execution or a permanent exemption for this type of flue. Developing a new flue would be unnecessary and costly for the whole industry, she added. 10 September 2019 www.cibsejournal.com CIBSE Sep19 pp10 News.indd 10 23/08/2019 15:03