CO2 level in passive house according to British standards

[irnbru]

Hi everyone! I'm wondering if there are any regulations on CO2 level in British standards. I've found some American standards, but my uni project is in the UK therefore I'd be grateful if anyone could provide any British regulations.

[JohnMo]

If you look in Scottish building regs, they mandate CO2 sensor in the main bedroom, the regs also dictate the functions of the sensor.

 

Other than that, there is nothing that says you must be below an upper threshold. That I am aware of for domestic properties.

Edited November 13, 2022 by JohnMo
Add domestic

[joth]

25 minutes ago, JohnMo said:

If you look in Scottish building regs, they mandate CO2 sensor in the main bedroom, the regs also dictate the functions of the sensor.

 

Other than that, there is nothing that says you must be below an upper threshold. That I am aware of for domestic properties.

I think you mean Scottish regs mandate a CO detector (alarm), not a CO2 sensor?

I.e monoxide not dioxide

 

I'm not aware of any regs around CO2 levels. If there were, there'd be a plethora of devices and professional services on the market for measuring it and correcting it. 

 

Edit: looks like since June 2022 regulations mandate CO2 sensors  in new office buildings, although so far there's only loose guidelines around what to do with the data they generate, not statutory law 

https://www.infogrid.io/blog/improvements-to-ventilation-and-indoor-air-quality-in-new-revisions-to-building-regulations-from-june-2022

 

There's a campaign in place to extend this to schools

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-58243238

 

It looks like largely this is all driven by measuring CO2 as a proxy for measuring the overall quality of airflow, as a post COVID viral transmission concerns, rather than concern for the risks from excessive CO2 in its own right.

This is certainly driving (or, being driven by?) the increasing prevalence of low cost CO2 monitors and iot services, so only a matter of time (decade?) before regs start pushing this into homes

Edited November 13, 2022 by joth

[ProDave]

30 minutes ago, joth said:

I think you mean Scottish regs mandate a CO detector (alarm), not a CO2 sensor?

I.e monoxide not dioxide

 

I'm not aware of any regs around CO2 levels. If there were, there'd be a plethora of devices and professional services on the market for measuring it and correcting it. 

Scottish regs do indeed require a CO2 sensor in the main bedroom.  I missed out on that as mine was built to the version of regs before that.  I did look at buying one out of curiosity, but they were hard to find and expensive.  with every new house in Scotland needing one, I would have hoped they would be easier to find and cheaper now.

[JohnMo]

No not speaking about CO.

 

Sorry it is a monitor not a sensor, but it is for CO2, also it is not an alarm.  The monitor requirement pre dates COVID by 5 years.

 

https://www.gov.scot/publications/carbon-dioxide-monitors-standard-3-14-letter-to-local-authority-verifiers/

 

 

[irnbru]

14 hours ago, JohnMo said:

No not speaking about CO.

 

Sorry it is a monitor not a sensor, but it is for CO2, also it is not an alarm.  The monitor requirement pre dates COVID by 5 years.

 

https://www.gov.scot/publications/carbon-dioxide-monitors-standard-3-14-letter-to-local-authority-verifiers/

 

 

Thank you!! This website is really useful

[irnbru]

Thank you all for your help! 

[joth]

On 13/11/2022 at 09:02, ProDave said:

Scottish regs do indeed require a CO2 sensor in the main bedroom.  I missed out on that as mine was built to the version of regs before that.  I did look at buying one out of curiosity, but they were hard to find and expensive.  with every new house in Scotland needing one, I would have hoped they would be easier to find and cheaper now.

 

Interesting! That looks like a guideline making a recommendation though, not a regulation mandating these are installed by law?

[joth]

8 minutes ago, joth said:

 

Interesting! That looks like a guideline making a recommendation though, not a regulation mandating these are installed by law?

 

This is the underlying technical handbook

 

https://www.gov.scot/publications/building-standards-2017-domestic/3-environment/314-ventilation/

 

"CO2 monitoring equipment should be provided in the apartment expected to be the main or principal bedroom in a dwelling where infiltrating air rates are less than 15m3/hr/m2 @ 50 Pa."

 

As an IETF era software engineer, to me "should" means an optional recommendation (vs "must" or "shall"  for a mandatory directive), but thar entire document is consistently using "should" throughout despite being titled a mandatory regulation, so I take it I'm completely misreading it  LOL

 

Does anyone  here actually have one installed and use it to make ventilation decisions?

 

 

Edited November 14, 2022 by joth

[JohnMo]

49 minutes ago, joth said:

to me "should" means an optional recommendation (vs "must" or "shall"  for a mandatory directive),

I came from the military with the same definition.  However this defined understanding does not exist in many walks of life - building regs included