ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines the requirements and recommendations for the most common domestic services. Each technology has a description, requirement and recommendations to assist designers in services specification. New homes are built to high thermal standards when compared with conventional homes of the 19th and 20th century. Insulation, airtightness and thermal bridging standards have increased so the standard house built in 2016 has a theoretical heat demand that is approximately 50% less than 2000. Innovate United Kingdom’sBuilding Performance Evaluation Programme completed in 2015, demonstrated major teething problems with the inexperience of technology in new homes. Technologies that harmed performance with poor products or installation were solar water heaters, heat recovery ventilation, heat pumps, automatic blinds and heating controls. This was partly down to designers and installers inexperience in setting up unfamiliar systems in different homes. Designers should be wary of specifying innovative systems unless they know the installers are experienced and have used them on similar projects.
