Part L Thermal Standard & Future Home Standard

Improvements to the energy efficiency of buildings were published in 2021 with guidance on compliance provided by the following Approved Documents: Approved Document L – Volume 1: Dwellings Approved Document L – Volume 2: Buildings other than dwellings

This Design Guide provides a commentary on the new changes and includes compliant wall and floor solutions using products from Lignacite Limited.

These changes to the Building Regulations are intended to help the UK deliver net zero. This includes a requirement for new homes to produce around 30% less CO2 than current standards and a 27% reduction in emissions from other new buildings. To deliver the improvements, new homes will be assessed against the following four performance metrics.

• Primary energy
• Carbon dioxide emissions
• The fabric energy efficiency standard (FEES)
• Minimum standards for fabric and fixed building
• services
• With increasing amounts of renewable energy generation, fuel factors are no longer required to offset ‘dirty’ electricity generation. This will adversely impact any property using oil, LPG or solid mineral fuel. This will prove to be a challenge to homes that are off-grid. More widely, it will help to drive the uptake of heat pumps which is a crucial part of the government’s long-term strategy.

The new changes take effect from the 15th June 2022.