EcoHomes

EcoHomes is a method of evaluating a major home renovation scheme against a set of standards for environmental sustainability. Both the design and the construction process are evaluated. It has a wide scope, covering energy, water conservation, construction waste, security, recycling facilities, sourcing and choice of materials, flood risk, ecological protection and many other issues. The performance of the scheme is evaluated against standards laid out in the EcoHomes Technical Guide. The result is one of the following ratings: “Pass”, “Good”, “Very Good” or “Excellent”. Typically “Very Good” is currently required. CERTIFICATES OF COMPLIANCE An EcoHomes Certificate of Compliance is sometimes required in planning permissions for home refurbishments. While EcoHomes does add yet another layer of complexity (with all its attendant paperwork) to the refurbishment process, Eco-Rating aims to shoulder most of this burden, leaving the designer to get on with the design and the Client to enjoy the benefits. PRE-ASSESSMENT Before granting planning permission, planners may require a “pre-assessment”, which confirms that the required EcoHomes rating is feasible and outlines how it may be achieved. From the self-builder’s perspective, a useful output of this stage is a schedule of the design features to be included and the construction practices to be adopted. Eco-Rating produces this document after full discussion with the client and/or designer. DESIGN-STAGE ASSESSMENT CERTIFICATE With the plan in place, the next stage is to collect the evidence. Drawings and specifications will be needed, along with copies of correspondence, web pages and other such documentation. Having received all the evidence the assessor will lodge the assessment with the BRE (Building Research Establishment), which administers the EcoHomes scheme. After checking the information, the BRE issues a “Design-Stage Certificate” giving the EcoHomes rating achieved at design stage. It may be one of the conditions on the planning permission that this Design-Stage Certificate is obtained before refurbishment can begin. Eco-Rating recognises that self-builders may not be familiar with EcoHomes certification, and one of my special contributions in self-build projects is to work closely with the key players through these processes. POST-CONSTRUCTION REVIEW CERTIFICATE If a Post-Construction Review is required, documentation will be collected during construction as evidence that the agreed EcoHomes features and construction practices are being implemented. At least one site visit will be conducted, and copies of certain invoices or equivalent documents will be required. If there are changes (as sometimes occur), these will be evaluated and a partial re-assessment will take place. The assessor lodges the post-construction review with the BRE, who will issue the Post-Construction Certificate. FURTHER INFORMATION More information can be found here. If you have any questions, would like to know how we could help you, or would like a quotation, please get in touch – details on the Contacts page.

 

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