Last weeks budget contained a surprise anti green policy change. The policy on reducing energy in new houses has been watered down.
To measure home energy use We currently use the standard assessment procedure (SAP). SAP counts the energy needed to heat our homes as well as the energy used to provide lighting and hot water. It then calculates how many carbon emissions come from this by calculating how that energy is provided. Electricity has a higher CO2 content, reflecting that much electricity in the UK comes from coal fired power stations. Gas has a lower CO2 content.
There are other ways we use energy in our homes. Our use of appliances, which SAP does not capture, can be equivalent to up to 45% more energy use.
The recent budget changed this. The house building industry was gearing up to provide super low energy construction, through teaching people how to build in an energy efficient way, and through the use of renewables.
The budget announcement last week surprised everybody. It announced that “Government will hold house builders accountable only for those CO2 emissions that are covered by Building Regulations”
This means a significantly lower overall carbon reduction target than previously expected. On average the goal will be about a third less. This means lower costs for house builders, but it upsets those looking for stringent carbon targets and those that were gearing up for a more challenging target. Interestingly many large house builders were on board with the more challenging zero carbon target.
There are other changes, that will also have a future impact. Currently compliance with Building Regulations is checked based on the design. Separately it has been recommended to Government that Building Regulations move to measure the built performance of homes. These are to be included. At this stage this will come out during the consultation but it is useful that Government is moving to a checking system that better captures how homes perform in reality.
Paul King, Chief Executive of the UKGBC said: “In the space of two weeks, this Government has gone from a firm commitment on zero carbon homes, to a watered down policy. A zero carbon home will no longer do what it says on the tin. The world leading commitment that new homes would not add to the carbon footprint of our housing stock from 2016 has been scrapped despite a remarkable consensus between industry and NGOs in support of it. Thanks to a crude de-regulation agenda we now have a policy that is not only anti-green but anti-growth.”
Andrew Eagles, Managing Director, Sustainable Homes states, “This change is significant. It will mean a lower threshold for those building from 2016. The onus of reducing those emissions still remains. That will either need to come from further decarbonising of the grid or from a more rapid and deeper reduction of carbon for our existing homes. Both of which are quite challenging.”
Sustainable Homes website http://green.sustainablehomes.co.uk/blog/bid/55676/Shocking-government-zero-carbon-U-turn?dm_i=8T3,EDC0,WDZ61,15ARV,1
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