Building Regulations have changed considerably over the past 10 years with massive in roads being achieved with insulation, air tightness, renewable energy, etc. The current regulations require new dwellings to achieve a 40% improvement when compared with dwellings built under the 2005 regulations. In broad terms, this means that under the 2005 regulations a particular house would have achieved a C1 BER whereas the same house under current regulations would achieve a rating of B1. Under new impending proposals it is envisaged that we further improve the 2005 regulations by 60% which would in turn result in a BER of A3. To achieve a rating of A3, it would be pretty much accepted throughout the industry that you would need to introduce some sort of Heat Recovery Ventilation System on top of the current requirement for additional vapour sealing, thermal bridging, balanced flues, draught lobbies, CFL lights, solar panels, etc. which are all standard building practice these days. The extra over cost therefore in achieving an A-Rated Concrete Built home could be as little as 3% over current building costs. There are also other options available such as geothermal and air to water heating systems with the latter proving to be far more economical and would possibly be regarded as the way forward for future building. This additional cost though could be recovered quite quickly through reduced heating bills, enhanced property value, etc.
Further jargon free reading is available on the following link to The Irish Concrete Federation website www.irishconcrete.ie which produced a publication entitled The A-Rated Energy Efficient Concrete Home. Click on the following image for details and download:
