Standards And Guidance
AECB water standards
Delivering buildings with excellent water and energy performance. The AECB Water Standards prioritise reductions in the kinds of water use that are most environmentally damaging, targeting hot water use and water use in times and places of drought stress. The standards aim to avert the very real risk that building users will retrofit inefficient appliances, by specifying performance that real people find acceptable, thus delivering real energy and water savings in real-world use, rather than merely on paper.
More information and download standards
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VOLUME 1 – THE WATER STANDARDS
Specifications for AECB Good Practice and AECB Best Practice Standards for water in buildings, plus experimental category.
VOLUME 2 – TECHNICAL BACKGROUND REPORT
Rationale and design guidance for meeting the standards
AECB building energy standards – AECB CarbonLite
The CarbonLite Programme is a step-by-step guide to creating and using buildings with low energy use and CO2 emissions, aimed at clients, developers, design teams, builders and building users. It is designed to fill the gap between the aspiration to deliver high-performance buildings and the often more disappointing reality.
Go to CarbonLite home page or download documents direct below.
Note: Most documents are free to download, some are only available to AECB members.
AECB Energy Standards overview
VOLUME 1 – AN INTRODUCTION TO THE CARBONLITE PROGRAMME
Overview and rationale
VOLUME 2 – PRINCIPLES AND METHODOLOGIES
Calculating and minimising heat loss and CO2 emissions from buildings
VOLUME 3 – THE ENERGY STANDARDS
Prescriptive and Performance versions
AECB Silver Standard, AECB Passivhaus Standard, AECB Gold Standard
AECB design guidance
Sample construction details, plus commentary and thermographic images, for all key building elements and covering three main construction methods, to jump-start design of ultra-low energy building envelopes.
Please note Volumes 4&5, Design Guidance are available as free downloads to AECB members only. Members, please log in. Non-members, you can join the AECB online here for instant access.
VOLUME 4 -- DESIGN GUIDANCE, STEP 1/SILVER STANDARD
VOLUME 5 -- DESIGN GUIDANCE, STEPS 2&3/PASSIVHAUS AND GOLD
Non-members can view sample pages of Volume 5 design guidance here.
VOLUME 5 – APPENDIX 1
Conductivity Data used in heat load calculations for AECB Gold detailing
Short guides on the process of delivering low energy buildings
Handy A5 leaflets to download and print, summarising how to deliver very low energy buildings - for clients, design teams, builders and building occupants. Delivering a truly low-energy building that works for its users needs to be a team effort, and these clear and readable leaflets guide you through the whys and hows of this process, and help the team to work together constructively and effectively.














