All You Need to Know about the Code for Sustainable Homes

UK Guidelines for  Sustainable Homes

Although going through all applicable UK regulation in the terms of construction, insulation and sustainability may give you a headache, since these regulation are often not as easy to understand and follow, you will notice that they are apart from being mandatory, also very useful, which is something you will understand only when your construction and/or insulation project is brought to an end. Namely, the basic aim of these regulations is to make sure that you end up with a building that will be durable, protected (in the terms of fire and moisture protection, insulation, impact resistance, waste management etc) and eco-friendly in regard to the lower carbon footprint. This way, not only individual households but also the entire society can benefit from regulation compliance. Some more than useful standards and guidelines are also given in the often mentioned Code for Sustainable Homes (read more here), which will be explained right here.

Unlike Building Regulations and the Approved documents which set out some mandatory and binding rules and requirements which must be met in regard to the different aspects of construction, the Code for Sustainable Homes presents a national standard which is however voluntary (except for some provisions which will be further on explained). It offers some basic guidelines and recommendations for constructing a sustainable home, lowering harmful carbon emissions and setting a higher level of sustainability for residential properties. It was originally developed in 2006 and introduced in 2007, complementing the system of Energy Performance Certificates, under the European Energy Performance of Buildings Directive. It is applicable in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, replacing the EcoHomes Scheme in England.

What you need to know about the Code for Sustainable Homes is that it awards new built homes from Level 1 to Level 6, whereas the first level exceeds the minimum requirements set by the Buildings Regulations and the sixth level presents the optimum designs in regard to home sustainability. The awarding is based on the nine basic criteria used to assess the overall environmental impact of the construction design, including:

• Energy and CO₂ emissions set out the standards that must be met at each level of the Code in regard to decreasing the levels of harmful carbon emissions into the atmosphere;
• Water section sets out the water saving measures, both internal and external;
• Materials refer to the standards that used construction materials must meet in order of being classified under one of the available levels;
• Surface water run-off refers to the measures for preventing and dealing with potential floods;
• Waste standards are used to reduce the amount of waste and reuse of construction materials;
• Pollution refers to theuse of insulation materials that are not harmful for the environment;
• Health and well-being is the criterion regarding the quality of daylight, acoustic insulation and private spaces;
• Management refers to security in construction and
• Ecology is the criterion for environmental protection.

As before mentioned, the Code for Sustainable Homes is not obligatory, but it can enforce certain obligations in regard to the developers who must include certain requirement in their planning policy which is usually imposed by the local government; if the homes are awarded the third level under the Code, the Homes and Community Agency provides proper funding and the applicable building regulations include the third level of the Code in regard to the energy efficiency. In order for the homes to be rated under the Code for Sustainable Homes, they need to exceed the energy performance prescribed by the Part L of the Building regulations for: 10% to reach level 1, 18% to reach the level 2, 25% to reach the level 3, 44% to reach the level 4, 100% to reach the level 5 and to have zero carbon footprint to reach the final level 6.

Whether your home can be classified under the levels prescribed by the Code for Sustainable Homes, is assessed by the certified Code service providers (BRE Global Ltd and Strom Ltd at the moment) which train and certify the Code assessors who are licensed for the classification. The Code includes the Technical Guide which sets out the requirements in order of making the assessment procedure easy and transparent.

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