The 18th Edition of the IET Wiring Regulations comes with one considerable draft section missing – Part 8, Energy Efficiency. Steve Martin, Director of Technical at ECA, looks at the role the 18th Edition will play in Energy Efficiency.
Energy Efficiency, a completely new part and probably one of the most controversial introductions to the 18th Edition, was presented last summer.
This came during the Draft for Public Comment (DPC) stage, a period where industry had its say as the revised standard became public for the first time. Until then, BS 7671 had only ever been considered as a safety standard in terms of preventing electric shock and fire.
Although the proposed Part 8 has disappeared from the Wiring Regulations, energy efficiency will still play a key role in BS 7671. It will work as an aid in meeting the requirements to Part L of the Building Regulations (conservation of fuel and power) in both England and Wales and conservation requirements of Scotland and Northern Ireland. But it is now a condensed ‘Informative Appendix’.
Electrical installations
Appendix 17 − Energy efficiency will now provide recommendations for the design and implementation of electrical installations, including installations having local production and storage of energy, for optimising the overall efficient use of electricity. The recommendations within the scope will apply to the new and modification of existing electrical installations. However, most will not apply to domestic and similar installations
To many readers the concept of energy efficient electrical installations is nothing new. Regardless of its inclusion into BS 7671, a good design will take into consideration: maximum demand; load profiles; power factor correction; location of equipment; controls, such as lighting control; harmonics and cable sizing.
As the world continues to strive to reduce energy consumption, the UK still has an obligation to implement International and European standards on energy efficiency.
As such the intention of Appendix 17 is that, it should be read in conjunction with BS IEC 60364-8-1, (Low Voltage electrical installations Part 8-1 Energy Efficiency) to provide a systematic continual assessment of energy efficiency.
