Project partners: DTI, DTLR, Kingston
University, Basement Development Group, NHBC, Autoclaved Aerated Concrete
Products Association, Brick Development Association Ltd., British Cement
Association.
Basements enable the better
utilisation of land by increasing the useable living space per plot, thereby
optimising the use of scarce building land and helping to reduce the
environmental impact of new housing. The increasing need to use brownfield and
other "difficult" sites often results in the need for deep excavation
and contributes to the cost-effectiveness of providing a basement. Basements
offer high standards of thermal performance, hence addressing the key
environmental need to reduce the consumption of carbon based energy. The
proposed amendments to Part L of the Building Regulations will increase the
relevance of their inherently good energy efficiency and low carbon dioxide
emissions performance.
Basements and semi basements are an
important means of providing improved amenity in new dwellings. Using
unreinforced brick or block masonry would assist in this major improvement to
the provision of living amenity in the
Unreinforced masonry is much more
attractive in this situation than reinforced masonry because it has better
client value and is simpler, easier, cheaper and quicker to build. An earlier
Project - Plain Masonry Basement Walls has
developed a more economical basis for the design of unreinforced basement
walls.
The outcome of the project will be an
updated "Basements for Dwellings" Approved Document to the Building
Regulations (first published in 1997) incorporating information dealing with
plain masonry walls for basements.
This will facilitate more widespread user take-up of domestic basements and
semi-basements as improved amenity through: