PAS 2038 – The new standard for retrofit in non-domestic buildings
The Climate Change Act, as amended in 2019, commits the UK to ‘net zero’ by 2050. The built environment accounts for roughly 40% of UK greenhouse gas emissions, with around 20% of this coming from non-domestic buildings, according to the Climate Change Committee.
The new PAS 2038 standard for retrofitting non-domestic buildings will cover all commercial and non-domestic buildings except for dwellings. It can also be applied to multi-residential buildings such as student housing or hotels. The goal of PAS 2038 is to provide a more consistent and comprehensive approach to energy efficiency retrofits across different types of buildings. This blog post will provide an overview of the main requirements of the standard.
What is PAS 2038?
PAS 2038 is a Publicly Available Specification (PAS) that outlines the requirements for the retrofitting of energy efficiency measures in non-domestic buildings. The standard was developed by the British Standards Institution (BSI) and is based on existing best practice standards, such as those from the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO), the European Union (EU), and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
The standard covers all aspects of an energy efficiency retrofit project, from initial assessment and planning through to design, installation, commissioning, and monitoring. It is intended to be used by building owners, occupiers, facility managers, energy managers, architects, engineers, contractors, and other stakeholders involved in retrofit projects.
What are the benefits of PAS 2038?
PAS 2038 provides a number of benefits, including:
- A more comprehensive approach to energy efficiency retrofits that takes into account the specific needs of different types of buildings;
- Improved consistency in the way energy efficiency retrofits are planned and delivered;
- Greater transparency around the costs and benefits of energy efficiency retrofits;
- Increased confidence in the ability of energy efficiency retrofits to deliver promised savings; and
- A stronger focus on whole-building performance rather than individual technologies or measures.
Overall, PAS 2038 should help to accelerate the uptake of energy efficiency retrofits in non-domestic buildings.
