Building Regulations in the UK are being revised to impose much stricter control of the energy emissions in large buildings.
The most relevant clauses are Part F and Part L. Part F requires post-completion testing of ventilation equipment installed in a commercial or other large building.
Its new Installation and Commissioning Compliance Guide is designed to ensure that ventilation not only delivers the required airflow, but does it efficiently and quietly.
Aside from tighter regulation being introduced there are two reasons for the owners or managers of large commercial and public buildings to consider energy efficiency in those buildings for which they are responsible.
The first is that there is increasing evidence that energy consumption, especially oil-based energy consumption, is having a significant impact on climate change and global warming and it is in everyone’s interests to play a part in trying to reverse this. Each year it seems we witness a series of increasingly extreme weather events, whether from drought or flood and this impacts not only the continuation of daily life but also on the availability of food and food scarcity.
The second reason is economic. In the aftermath of the 2008 Great Recession energy prices continue to climb and many companies are struggling to survive in the face of every higher energy and commodity costs.
Anything that can be done to reduce the energy consumption of their buildings and therefore their overheads is therefore becoming a higher priority. It is possible that there is a ventilation or air ducting system in the building whether for heating, air conditioning or both.
Research has shown that the commonest causes of high energy bills is inefficiency of the ducting system through leakage and through impeded air flow. Plainly it makes sense to have all seals, filters and ducting checked regularly to minimise these issues and it may be that it would be more cost effective to replace an air ducting system with one that is more efficient an environmentally friendly. This is where Part F of the new Building Regulations applied to large buildings above 1000m2 comes into play.
But when trading conditions are as tough as they have been since 2008 it may be that companies and organisations will be unable or unwilling to invest in a complete new system, even though in the longer term it could result in savings on the energy bill.
There is still much that can be done in this situation.
A regular annual or half-yearly check on the system, as mentioned earlier, particularly using a filter cleaning and replacement service, could help keep everything running smoothly.
Even so, there will be a certain amount of dust, dirt and debris collecting in the air ducts over time and this too will affect the performance of the system. Regular air duct cleaning can help minimise such problems.
Duct cleaning carried out by an experienced specialist cleaning company could be the best investment for ensuring the energy bill is kept as low as it can possibly be.
Copyright (c) 2011 Alison Withers