Barry's Introduction to Construction of Buildings, 4th Edition

11Internal Environment and Energy Supply

The design of the services provision should be integral to the design of the building and its fabric, thus allowing greater ease of constructability, better access for routine repair and maintenance, and ease of recovery at the end of the building’s life. Heating, cooling, ventilation and electrical services allow the building to be used, while influencing the wellbeing of the building users. Indeed, it is the combination of heating, cooling, ventilation and lighting that contributes to the building users’ perceived level of comfort. And this requires energy. The European Union (EU) directive on energy use of buildings is concerned with reducing the energy use of the overall building fabric, not just U‐values, thus helping to reinforce the need for an integrated and sustainable approach to the design, construction and use of buildings. This has led to the design of low‐energy buildings, increased investment in renewable technologies, and, with it, greater emphasis on the quality of the internal environment.

11.1 Principles and performance requirements

Increased levels of thermal comfort, combined with the desire to reduce the energy consumed by buildings over their lifetime, have resulted in ever‐more‐stringent legislation and the need to construct buildings that are thermally efficient. All elements of a building, from the foundations to the roof, need to play their part in helping to reduce the energy demands of a building as a whole. ...