Topic Guides

- - Lighting - A BSRIA topic guide (TG 28/2025)
  - by David Bleicher (October 2025)
  - Key information about lighting for architects, project managers and specifiers, focusing on occupant productivity and wellbeing
- - Airtightness (TG 27/2025)
  - by David Bleicher (June 2025)
  - This topic guide explains the basics of airtightness: What is it? Why is it important? In what situations is airtightness testing required and how is it carried out?
- - Wellbeing in Buildings (TG 10/2025)
  - by Sorcha Redmond (January 2025)
  - This topic guide looks at the growing importance of wellbeing in the built environment, including information on building assessment schemes. It supersedes TG 10/2016.
- - Mould in Buildings (TG 26/2024)
  - by Spyros Efthymiopoulos & Yasemin D. Aktas (December 2024)
  - Mould and dampness constitute an issue that affects millions of buildings every year. This BSRIA topic guide gives an overview of how mould occurs in buildings, how it can be diagnosed and what mitigation strategies can be put in place.
- - Net Zero Electricity grids (NZG 5/2024)
  - by Abouzar Estebsari (April 2024)
  - This guide explains the transformations which the UK’s electricity grids will need to undergo in order to realise a net zero future. It is published by the Net Zero Building Centre, a joint venture between BSRIA and London South Bank University.
- - Embodied Carbon (NZG 4/2023)
  - by Aaron Gillich & Sorcha Redmond (December 2023)
  - This guide is published by the Net Zero Building Centre, a joint venture between BSRIA and London South Bank University. It focuses on what building professionals need to understand about embodied emissions as part of creating a net zero built environment.
- - Building Regulations (TG 24/2023)
  - by David Bleicher (November 2023)
  - This BSRIA Topic Guide provides an overview of the England building Regulations, focusing on aspects which most affect the building services industry.
- - The Global Context for Net Zero (NZG 3/2023)
  - by Aaron Gillich (August 2023)
  - This guide is published by the Net Zero Building Centre, a joint venture between BSRIA and London South Bank University. It considers how international agreements seeking to deliver net zero, how the UK is approaching net zero and the gaps between pledges and actions.
- - Acoustic Cameras (TG 23/2023)
  - by Rebecca Hogg (July 2023)
  - This guide explains how an acoustic camera works, some of the applications of acoustic cameras, and the advantages and disadvantages of using acoustic cameras over other technologies.
- - Indoor Environmental Quality and Net Zero (NZG 2/2023)
  - by Aaron Gillich (June 2023)
  - This guide is published by the Net Zero Building Centre, a joint venture between BSRIA and London South Bank University. It considers how the various components of indoor environmental quality impact net zero individually, and how they interact in a holistic design approach.
- - Thermal Comfort (TG 22/2023)
  - by Calum Maclean & David Bleicher (February 2023)
  - This topic guide gives a general overview of the topic of thermal comfort for a general construction industry audience, including clients, architects and project managers. It includes information about legislation, factors affecting thermal comfort, measurement of thermal comfort and sources of further information.
- - Net Zero Carbon Buildings (NZG 1/2022)
  - by Aaron Gillich (October 2022)
  - This guide is published by the Net Zero Building Centre, a joint venture between BSRIA and London South Bank University. It defines the terminology of net zero and its implications for the built environment. It outlines the key issues in the design and performance of buildings.
- - Indoor Air Quality (TG 12/2022)
  - by Anmol Patel & Calum Maclean (June 2022)
  - Free to download - This topic guide replaces TG 12/2021. It gives a brief introduction to the topic of indoor air quality (IAQ). It describes the importance of indoor air quality, its effects on health, the most common contaminants, their exposure limits, how to measure them, the role of ventilation and the law.
- - Refrigerants in Building Services (TG 21/2022)
  - by Graeme Fox (April 2022)
  - Free to download - This guide provides an overview of refrigerants currently in use, their applications and legislation that affects their use, such as the F-gas regulations.
- - Noise in the Built Environment (TG 20/2021)
  - by Rebecca Hogg (May 2021)
  - Free to download - This topic guide provides a broad overview of noise in the built environment and explains how noise is produced, how noise is measured, what impact noise has, and how noise can be controlled.
- - Legionella at a glance (TG 8/2019)
  - by Ronceray M (October 2019)
  - This topic guide supersedes TG 8/2017. The guide offers at-a-glance reference information to the issues of legionella bacteria, regulatory and guidance frameworks, advice and further reading.
- - Green Building and Sustainability (TG 15/2019)
  - by David Bleicher (August 2019)
  - This Topic Guide explains the concepts of green building and sustainability, and outlines some of the available assessment methods.
- - Soft Landings and Business-Focused Maintenance (TG 19/2019)
  - by Michelle Agha-Hossein & Nick Blake (May 2019)
  - Soft Landings is a process that, if adopted at the early stages of a construction project, can help the client and the project delivery team to deliver a building that meets the client’s expectations.
- - Copper Corrosion (TG 18/2019)
  - by Chris Thompson (April 2019)
  - Copper pipework is widely used in the building services industry for water distribution.
- - Offsite Construction for Building Services (TG 17/2019)
  - by John Sands (January 2019)
  - Offsite construction is a general term for making parts of a building away from the construction site before transporting them and installing them in their final location.
- - BREEAM Topic Guide (TG 16/2018)
  - by BSRIA (December 2018)
  - This topic guide introduces BREEAM, which is a building sustainability assessment tool that has been used to measure building performance since 1991.
- - Digital Twins (TG 25/2024)
  - by Adrian Malone
  - This topic guide, authored by Adrian Malone of WSP, explains the basics of digital twins and their application in the building services industry.

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