The CIBSE has released new guidance to address the causes of overheating homes as the UK looks set to have one of the hottest summers in 41 years
Overheating homes and the impact of this on health was the subject of discussion last week after the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) called on the government to amend building regulation. The Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) created a new guidance to help provide clear instruction on this issue.
The Technical Memorandum 59: Design methodology for the assessment of overheating risk in homes (TM59) aims to provide a consistent methodology that can be used to discern when a property is at risk of overheating.
The document was launched at University College London on 28 June and will create a standard that the entire industry can apply.
The CIBSE said the guidance is necessary as summers are becoming warmer. This is putting some homes at risk of overheating.
Setting an industry standard
Dr Anastasia Mylona, Research Manager at CIBSE, said: “CIBSE has created this methodology in response to growing concern in the construction industry that rising temperatures and a changing urban landscape are creating a generation of homes destined to overheat.
“By creating an industry-agreed standard methodology for assessing overheating, we aim to enable designers and engineers to work together to create buildings that are more resilient to hot weather events.”
CIBSE used existing guidance to create TM59, including its own industry-leading weather data products, developed with the support of the MET Office. This aids in assessing if a design is likely to overheat. The data for this comes from 14 sites around the UK, collected since the early 1980s.
There are also reporting requirements set out in the document, which aim to ensure stakeholders understand the methodology’s impact on the design.
CIBSE said it has live tested TM59 extensively on existing projects and has found it to be effective. However, further research and testing will take place. This will, the CIBSE said, allow the methodology to be refined in response to new data and user feedback.
