CIBSE guidance addresses overheating in homes
The causes of overheating in homes are addressed in new guidance from CIBSE. Addressing what the industry had identified as a gap in its knowledge, CIBSE has created Technical Memorandum 59: ‘Design methodology for the assessment of overheating risk in homes’ to set a standard by which overheating can be assessed using a standard methodology.
TM59 is available as a free download and creates a common approach for assessing overheating. The Met Office reports that the eight warmest years in the UK since 1910 have occurred in the last 14.
Input assumptions about occupancy profiles, internal gains, natural ventilation capabilities etc. in the design process will produce a wide variety of results and can even mask the magnitude of overheating risk in some properties. TM59 aims to provide consistency across the industry so all consultants can use the same assumptions regarding the use of properties when assessing overheating risk.
Dr Anastasia Mylona, research manager with CIBSE, said, ‘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.’
TM59 draws upon existing guidance produced by CIBSE and others on various aspects of a building’s performance to give a prescriptive approach to modelling, which will allow the methodology to be consistently applied. It also includes reporting requirements to ensure that stakeholders understand the methodology’s impact on the design.
The guidance draws on CIBSE’s industry-leading weather data products, developed with the support of the Met Office, which play a fundamental role in assessing if a particular design is like to overheat.
TM59 has been extensively ‘live tested’ on existing projects and shown to be effective. CIBSE plans to back up the results of the methodology through further research and testing as it is applied, enabling the methodology to be refined in response to new data and user feedback.
