I am investigating a dichotomy facing those who design and construct new places of worship. This class of buildings are exempt from Part ‘L’ of the building regulations. However, this exemption is obviously not carried through to the emerging and differing energy conservation policies embedded within DPD’s. Places of worship are exempt from building regulations as generally they have a very small use pattern and are constructed using essentially community funding. Also, when a well insulated building is filled with people, the issue is cooling and not heating. Payback periods for new technology are typically far longer and frequently outside of the lifetime of the product, thus placing undue financial pressure on projects. Has anyone any practical experience of this problem, and any suggestions as to whether policy should acknowledge this matter or whether all buildings should conform irrespective of their status in building regulations?
