Peterborough – Ventilation Cost Saving

Cumberland Vale, Peterborough is a site with 130 new-build dwellings, houses and flats across the development. Built to achieve Part L1A (2013) Compliance, the project uses a fabric first approach to maximise the versatility of the build specification.

The fabric first approach comes from the design principle endorsed and promoted by The Zero Carbon Hub (The construction industries’ key advisers and partners with the Governments Communities and Local Government Department until its closure in March 2016).

The client are providing a good level of insulation throughout their design range which reduces the energy demand and CO2 emissions before adding renewable energy technologies. This approach ensures energy efficiency is in the core design, with a flexible schedule of heating and fittings used across the design range allowing an upgrade in specification where plots fail to achieve compliance marginally.

The client originally used solar photovoltaic (PV) panels as a solution to achieve Part L compliance on failing plots. Fitting individual solar panels provides little actual benefit to the occupant and, on average, costs the developer around £1350 per plot.

After thorough consultation with the developer, we developed the specification which utilises decentralised mechanical ventilation as a solution. Following this approach, we also provided consultation on achieving Part F ventilation requirements for the client. The solution is especially useful in situations where external noise prohibits the opening of certain windows and instances with cross ventilation isn't possible, for example single aspect flats. Of course, this still allows occupants to retrofit their property with PV at a later date.

This solution saved the client over £60,000 on site, roughly £1,200 per plot originally using PV.