Leading Autodesk Partner, CADline is developing an integrated software solution which will help the building industry meet tough new regulatory demands for greater energy efficiency in building design

The latest Building Regulations Part L, which came into effect I April 2006, is in part designed to cut carbon emissions by 20 per cent in dwellings and 27 per cent in other buildings compared to the previous 2002 Regulations.  "This provides a real challenge for the building industry and will have a profound effect on the traditionally 'arms-length' relationship between architects and buildings services engineers," confirms David Payne, Product Manager, CADline.

"In future, under the new more stringent regulations, it will not be possible to use services to correct an inherently non-compliant design," he says.  "As a result, architects and engineers will need to work closely together from the beginning of a project, to avoid the risk of months of design work being wasted, with potentially serious implications on building costs and penalties for late completion." 

In response, CADline is bringing its wealth of experience of both architectural design and building services automation software to bear as it develops a fully-integrated, end-to-end software solution.  "In order for building professionals to communicate effectively, their respective design software tools must also be able to 'talk to each other', so taking both time and risk out of the design process," says David Payne.

In order to deliver this, CADline has already linked its Cymap building services design solution with Autodesk's ABS software and is well underway to creating a parallel link with Tas design simulation tools which check for Part L compliance. 

"Our objective is to provide intelligent, two-way dataflow throughout the design process," he confirms, "removing the need to input data more than once, improving design accuracy and saving time and money."  

CADline has recently run several industry seminars to discuss the implications of the new Building Regulations and believes that both architects and building services engineers increasingly recognise the need for closer collaboration.  "By communicating in this way, not only will it ensure essential compliance," says David Payne "but it will also make their respective roles easier and deliver projects faster.

"In short, this integrated approach will make the whole life-cycle of project management more efficient," he believes.