Building regulations - overheating risk in new homes: research report

0. Executive Summary

1 The main aim of this report is to assess the likelihood of overheating risk in new homes in Scotland, under the improved standards of building fabric and in the context of projected temperature increases due to climate change.

2 Dynamic thermal modelling was undertaken according to CIBSE TM59 methodology for five dwelling typologies including a semi-detached house and single- and dual-aspect flats. The Glasgow DSY1 2020 high emissions scenario weather file was used to assess the overheating risk. Only the dual-aspect flat typologies failed the CIBSE TM59 overheating criteria.

3 Given that the dual-aspect flats only exceeded the overheating criteria to a limited extent, all of the passive risk mitigation packages evaluated in England and Wales should be sufficient for controlling the overheating risk. This paper provides commentary on the suitability of those packages with the lowest capital cost.

4. A high-level comparison of historical weather data suggests that in Scotland southern inland locations (around Glasgow) have higher peak summer temperature compared to the rest of the locations reviewed. This suggests that the passive risk mitigation packages proposed in this paper should be suitable for controlling the risk of overheating for at least most locations in Scotland.