New homes Low carbon
What are the prospects of Britain shifting to zero-carbon new
homes in the coming decade? Mark Jansen asks the experts
and, on page 40, takes a look at prospects for the country’s
biggest low-carbon residential development
T
hree years ago, the chief executive of a leading The current version of the Code for Sustainable
house builder said privately that he thought the Homes insists that zero-carbon homes must take all
UK government’s aim to make all new homes their energy from renewable sources built on-site.
zero carbon from 2016 was impossible. All that This can work on some sites, such as Hanham Hall,
insulation and renewable energy equipment would add a suburban development of almost 200 zero-carbon
so much to the cost of building a home that perhaps homes by Barratt, where a single combined heat and
half the development sites across the UK would end up power (CHP) plant, running on locally-grown biomass
with a negative value. Those landowners would have to will provide all of the residents’ heating and electricity
pay him to take the land away before he could make a needs, including appliances (see the case study on
profit. Although he sympathised with the aims of the page 40). The land was obtained at a discount, from
policy, he couldn’t see how it would stack up. the regeneration agency English Partnerships.
Fast-forward to 2010, and the government and But most housing developments do not enjoy such
housebuilding industry are still wrestling with the happy circumstances. For example, biomass may
problem of making zero carbon financially viable. be unsuitable for many urban environments, where
However, there has been some progress. ‘There are still supplies are too far away and the sites too small to
some big issues to be resolved, but we are not giving make the installation of a CHP plant viable. There are
up on this,’ promises John Slaughter, policy director at also concerns about air quality if every home moved to
the Home Builders Federation. The key change since biomass CHP. Wind turbines are generally considered
2007 has been in the way the government defines ‘zero ineffective in cities and there are limits to solar power
carbon’. in the British climate. >
Shutterstock
www.cibsejournal.com February 2010 CIBSE Journal 37
CIBSEfeb10 pp36-42 zero carbon.indd 37 28/1/10 16:33:28
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