Vent-Axia launches certified Building Regulations CPD for new build homes

Leading ventilation manufacturer Vent-Axia has launched a certified CPD ‘Domestic Legislation for Ventilation’ on the revised Building Regulations, following the company’s successful webinars on the topic. Certified by The CPD Certification Service, the CPD is aimed at housebuilders, M&E contractors, consultants and architects, and will inform delegates of the recent changes to the legislation, focusing on Approved Document F (for Ventilation) and Approved Document L (for Conversation of Fuel and Power) and will explain how they will affect ventilation in New Build homes.

The CPD runs through the vital revisions to the Part L and Part F of the Building Regulations, with a particular detailed examination of Part F. Other topics the CPD covers includes: an explanation of the ventilation solutions available for new build homes; understanding alternate means of ventilation; design considerations (such as noise and ingress of pollutants); as well as installation and commissioning best practice.

Published on 15th December 2021, the Building Regulations bring significant changes for housebuilders with the new amended Part L set to help the UK deliver Net Zero with a reduction of almost a third less carbon for new build homes. However, increasingly airtight homes must consider indoor air quality (IAQ) to protect the wellbeing of inhabitants and so the new Part F sets out to increase ventilation rates and will drive adoption of low carbon ventilation as an industry standard.

Joe Tse, Product Manager at Vent-Axia said,

“The revised Building Regulations recognise the important role ventilation plays in providing good indoor air quality in our homes. However, the cut in carbon emissions in Part L is challenging for housebuilders making it vital to increase ventilation in ever more airtight homes. We’ve launched this certified CPD ‘Domestic Legislation for Ventilation’ to help housebuilders and those working in the new build residential sector to comply with the new Regulations. The CPD explains the changes, how to meet them and how ventilation is affected.”

The company can now offer this certified CPD either offline with a Vent-Axia representative coming to your company or online to be taken at your own speed. Potential delegates can find out more about the CPD at https://www.vent-axia.com/cpd/domestic-legislation-for-ventilation or to sign up visit https://www.vent-axia.com/tools-services/cpd or email cpd(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)vent-axia.com.

For New Build residential homes, ventilation has increased in Part F to support the safety of residents with an overall move to more advanced ventilation solutions, such as Mechanical Ventilation with Heat Recovery (MVHR) and Continuous Mechanical Extract Ventilation instead of traditional Intermittent Extract Ventilation (now referred to as Natural Ventilation throughout the document). Natural Ventilation is now only suitable for dwellings with a design air permeability higher than 5m3 /(h·m2 ) at 50Pa meaning many new build dwellings will be out of scope of this technology. With the new Regulations, all properties must be air tightness tested and if a dwelling designed with natural ventilation becomes “highly airtight” following testing expert advice should be sought and a continuous mechanical extract ventilation system should be installed. However, benefit within SAP may not be recognised if technology is not correctly selected.

With the increased airtightness of buildings and increased minimum whole dwelling ventilation rates for continuous mechanical extract units, higher performing options are needed. Here housebuilders look to favour continuous mechanical extract units that offer a 125mm diameter spigot model since the larger surface area will allow greater airflow through the fan at a much lower noise level and SFP. This means fewer fans are required to achieve whole house ventilation rates. The new Regulations also place emphasis on increased ventilation and installation compliance to ensure ventilation operates as specified.

For New Build residential Vent-Axia has launched the award-winning Multivent MEV family, a new range of mechanical extract ventilation (MEV) and decentralised MEV (dMEV) designed to provide a simple and effective solution to help housebuilders meet the Future Homes Standard. The new Multivent MEV family is the ideal solution, helping housebuilders meet DER requirements through its market-leading energy efficiency and improving IAQ for homeowners. The complementary other half of the Multivent family is Vent-Axia’s Lo-Carbon NBR dMEV, a range of continuous running, constant volume dMEV units. This includes a unique 125mm option, which further improves DER by improving efficiency and lowering noise and is ideal to meet the new Part F requirements.

For further information on all products and services offered by Vent-Axia telephone +44 (0)344 856 0590 or visit www.vent-axia.com.