A. The Code for Sustainable Homes (CSH) aims to reduce carbon emissions for new residential buildings by setting target levels and ensures Building Regulations demand the very best energy efficiency from new homes.

A. Code level 1 - Requires energy consumption of a residential building to be in line with 2006 Building Regulations.
Code level 3 - Currently mandatory for all new homes and requires a 25% energy saving on homes built to 2006 regulations.
Code level 4 - Requires a 44% energy saving in new homes and is currently EST recommended for social housing.
Code level 6 - will be implemented in 2016 and will require all new residential buildings to be zero carbon.

A. The Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP) is the UK Government's recommended method system for measuring the energy rating of residential dwellings.

A. This enables the performance of new technologies including mechanical ventilation with heat recovery to be used in SAP calculations. The appendix includes results of the higher standards of performance required by the EST.

A. Levels of performance laid down by Parliament for the construction of buildings and installation of services.

A. Greater energy savings, standards of performance and reduction in carbon emissions is now a mandatory requirement of Building Regulations. Through complying with Building Regulations it will enable you to achieve the best possible SAP rating and attain higher levels of The Code for Sustainable Homes.

A. The Energy Saving Trust (EST) provides independent sustainability recommendations to businesses and individuals. They are accepted by Government as the authority on many environmental issues.

A. The renewable Heat Premium Payment (RHPP) is a one-off 'grant type' offer to incentivise the uptake of renewable heat technologies in the period up to the formal launch of domestic Renewable Heat incentive (RHI) tariffs in 2012.

A. Domestic ventilation became 'notifiable work' on 1st October 2010 as part of the 2010 revision to Approved Document F of the Building Regulations. This means that domestic ventilation provision in new homes must be commissioned by a suitably qualified person.

A. To ensure installers are qualified to install domestic ventilation, commissioning and hand-over, Polypipe have created a two day BPEC accredited training programme specifically written to complement the latest Building Regulation requirements. For more information on the course please call 08443 715523 or visit Installer Training.

A. This is a complex subject, but in simple terms underfloor heating is more efficient because:

• UFH uses lower temperature water (typically 35°C to 50°C rather than 70°C) so less energy is required to heat the water
• This enables condensing boilers to condense more often or heat pumps to operate at low temperatures
• The nature of radiant heat provides a comparable comfort level at a lower air temperature
• The distribution losses are lower as all distribution pipework provides useful heat
• Control is simpler to apply by individual room therefore allowing systems to be more controllable

A. The wide range of systems available allow the use of Polypipe underfloor heating for virtually any type of floor construction. These include traditional forms of solid and suspended floor whether they are in a commercial or domestic environment. The addition of overfloor systems such as Polypipe Overlay™ allow existing floors to be heated or this type of system can be applied to new build floor constructions where the integration of traditional underfloor heating may be difficult to apply.

A. Water based systems are covered by BS EN 1264 Parts 1, 2, 3 (Design) and 4 (Installation). Floor screeds and finishes are covered by BS 8204 (2005) Parts 1-7, BS 8203, and DIN Standard 18560 Parts 1-7 - the latter being a longstanding Europe wide reference standard. Timber floors and timber finishes are covered predominantly by BS 8201 in the UK.