taking the stress out of new regulations

Published by Angela May for Passivent Ltd in Housing

Ahead of the amended criteria for ventilation in dwellings coming into force in October, Passivent is already coming to the aid of specifiers and installers, with a raft of new measures aimed at simplifying the compliance process.

The company, established as the UK’s leading supplier of domestic ventilation solutions and the only one in its field that can provide the full ambit of natural, assisted and mechanical strategies including a heat recovery option, is compiling a range of reference material to the implications and changes in the Building Regulation Approved Document Part F.

A ‘quick reference’ guide will be easily accessible via the company’s website, www.passivent.com., with a more in-depth overview being produced, which will also be available to download via the website when published.

Stephen Smith, Passivent Domestic Product Manager, explains, “The new Approved Document Part F can be complex: with our partner the Institute of Energy & Sustainable Development at DeMontfort University, we have been involved in advising/ informing on the new Regulations and their practical implementation, so are more aware than most of the new legislative demands!

“Simply, there are now two levels of ventilation depending on the  dwelling’s airtightness: more airtight homes now have higher demands than the previous Document. System standards have changed in some aspects too- for example all Passive Stack Ventilation ducting should be 125mm.There are additional compliance requirements in terms of commissioning and ‘signing off’, and criteria for maintenance.

“Because Passivent uniquely offers a comprehensive range of ventilation solutions, we are probably the only specialist ventilation supplier able to give the specifier impartial advice on the most appropriate solution, and provide him with the relevant technical support such as SAP calculations etc to demonstrate compliance.”

The ventilation strategies are ideal for the new compliance guide, also being introduced alongside Approved Document F. Passivent ventilation is supported by Passivent’s Mastercare scheme of approved installers, which provides a nationwide network of contractors specially trained and accredited in efficient installation of the company’s ambit of products in line with Regulatory requirements. Passivent systems installed through the Mastercare scheme can be considered for a 12 year design warranty.

Passivent supplies background ventilation solutions including tricklevents and through-wall ventilators, standard and ‘intelligent’ mechanical ventilation, passive stack natural ventilation and the new and innovative iHybrid, which combines natural ventilation with heat recovery to yield a 55% reduction in fan energy use and a 39% saving in lifetime costs over standard mechanical heat recovery.