Zero carbon homes – forget legislation, let’s do it anyway
Anthony Probert argues that there is still a compelling case to create zero carbon homes, despite the government scrapping legislation
Future Homes Standard: how close to zero carbon is low carbon?
Yesterday's Future Homes Standard announcement in the Spring Statement is a step in the right direction but it must be accompanied by a range of other measures if we are to truly tackle climate change says our Head of Sustainable Places
We warmly welcome the Chancellor's commitment to introduce a Future Homes Standard by 2025, future-proofing new build homes with low-carbon heating and world-leading levels of energy efficiency. But we need to know what the Government has in mind as soon as possible - how close to zero carbon is low carbon?
At the same time, the Government needs to do more to ensure that energy-saving standards are actually delivered when new homes are built. There is currently a wide performance gap between what is mandated by building regulations and what is actually achieved, so homeowners end up with energy bills much higher than they ought to be.
As part of this future homes standard, there needs to be an effective strategy for supporting microrenewables, smart grid and energy storage solutions for new homes. They need to be able to generate more of their own power, store it and be made compatible with their local electricity networks.
Presumably the new standard isn't coming in until 2025 in order to give housebuilders time to prepare. But we hope the next six years will not see the standard being watered down.We really need to be delivering on zero carbon right now, and that's exactly what we will continue to do with our partners at Bioregional.
We can build the zero carbon homes we need – but we must be strategic
This week, Sue Riddlestone appeared on the BBC’s Costing the Earth to discuss housebuilding in the UK. Here, she shares more about how we can create zero-carbon homes that are great places to live – as well as her call for action to the UK government
10 ways to smash the energy performance gap in housebuilding
After four years in a hard hat and high-vis jacket on a major construction project, our resident ‘energy performance gap guru’ Douglas Drewniak shares his ten top tips on closing the gap between building design and performance