CIBSE

Helping organisations to cut carbon
July 14th 2006

CIBSE's 100 Days of Carbon Clean Up campaign aims to encourage organisations to reduce the amount of carbon emitted from their buildings. The initiative emphasises and promotes the need to cut carbon and forms part of a larger scale need to take action to make existing and new buildings more energy efficient. Helping to set out what can be done to improve the energy performance of buildings, the Part L publications, available from CIBSE, offer advice and guidance on energy consumption, assessment and metering

By consulting the Part L publications, those who have signed up to the 100 days campaign can get a clearer picture of what steps can be taken to improve energy performance and cut overall carbon emissions.

AM10: Natural ventilation in non-domestic buildings is a key source in helping people to apply basic principles of natural ventilation. One of the basic top ten carbon savings tips contained in the 100 days information encourages companies to reduce their reliance on air conditioning and make the most of natural ventilation within the premises.

TM33: Tests for software accreditation and verification describes a series of standard tests for commercial software calculation tools and is seen as helpful for software developers within participating organisations.

TM22: Energy, assessment and reporting methodology provides detailed information on assessing a building's energy consumption compared to established CIBSE benchmarks. It is being used by the organisations who have signed up to the 100 days initiative and will play a key role in assessing overall savings at the end of the campaign.

TM36: Climate change & the indoor environment: impacts & adaptation offers a detailed look into climate change and the use of associated heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems. It will help organisations to ensure summertime thermal comfort, while at the same time taking energy efficiency into account and reducing carbon emissions.

TM37: Design for improved solar shading control tackles the potential problems of sunlight and excessive solar gains. This is particularly relevant to the 100 days campaign as the negative impact of sunlight, such as overheating and glare on computer screens, can lead to greater energy use and therefore needs to be combated with clever design.

TM38: Renewable energy sources for buildings focuses on incorporating renewables into buildings and identifying the most appropriate low or zero carbon energy solutions for buildings, helping everyone to reduce carbon emissions and consider renewable options.

TM39: Building energy metering plays an important role as good metering is a vital energy monitoring and targeting tool. The publication helps people to get to grips with the idea of sub-metering and to measure energy so that they can manage it more efficiently.

Commissioning Code M: Commissioning management helps industry professionals to achieve compliance with the new statutory requirement to commission building services systems, as under Regulation L 1 b, ensuring they are commissioned in a proper and timely manner.

Guide A: Environmental design defines the operative temperature needed to comply with solar overheating guidance and reflects recent research in environmental design.

TM31: Building log book tool kit meets the Part L requirement for building owners to be provided with a building log book, detailing building services and maintenance requirements, ensuring that present and future owners are able to assess and improve energy efficiency and low carbon initiatives.

The publications are essential for anyone responsible for compliance calculations under Part L and will play a key role in helping organisations to tackle the problem of poor energy performances within existing buildings and providing guidance on how to cut carbon during the 100 days and beyond.

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