The Code for Sustainable Homes Assesment
With extensive knowledge of the construction industry, Lincs Energy are able to deliver the aims of The Code by providing guidance on the construction of high performance homes built with sustainability in mind.
On 13th December 2006, the Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG) launched the Code for Sustainable Homes - a new national standard for sustainable design and construction of new homes. Since the 1st of May 2008 the developer of any new home in England must have a mandatory rating against the Code.
Experience of delivering many schemes to a minimum of Code Level 3, Lincs Energy are ideally placed to assess your scheme to the new mandatory minimum levels of performance across all issues including:
• Energy/CO2
• Water
• Materials
• Surface water run-off
• Waste
• Pollution
• Health and well-being
• Management
• Ecology
Code assessments are carried out in two phases:
• An initial assessment and interim certification is carried out at the design stage
• Final assessment and certification is carried out after construction see below
The minimum standards for Code compliance have been set above the requirements of Building Regulations. The Code is intended to signal the future direction of Building Regulations in relation to home carbon emissions from and energy use, providing greater regulatory certainty for the homebuilding industry.
The Code uses a 1 to 6 star rating system to show the overall sustainability performance of a new home. It sets minimum standards for energy and water use at each level, which provides valuable information to home buyers and offers builders a tool with which to differentiate themselves in sustainability terms.
The levels of energy efficiency for the code (standard percentage better than Part L1A of the 2006 Building Regulations) are:
Code level 1 - 10%
Code level 2 - 18%
Code level 3 - 25%
Code level 4 - 44%
Code level 5 - 100%
Code level 6 - zero carbon
As well as offering pure assessment services, Lincs Energy is able to offer many additional design and advisory services to help your development achieve your desired Code Level.