Could Zero Carbon Homes be back on the agenda for good?
Following the to-ing and fro-ing in Parliament around the Housing and Planning Bill, could Zero Carbon Homes be back on the agenda for self-builders?Graham Suttill, Sustainable Building Assessor from Darren Evans Assessments writes.
D
uring the Lords Report Stage of the Housing and Planning Bill, the House of
Lords defeated the
Government on the Zero Carbon Homes amendment. The defeat by 48 votes showed the Lords’ desire to reinstant Zero Carbon Homes, the on-site carbon compli- ance standard, which the Government rather surprisingly scrapped last July. So is this good news?Well yes and no.
While it is a clear sign that there is still strong belief in the Zero Carbon Homes standard, the Bill had to go back to the Commons and could enter months of pro- longed to-ing and fro-ing where both Houses of Parliament seek to pass their respective versions of the Bill. But the out- come could see Government ensure all new homes in England built from 1 April 2018 achieve the standard. It is fair to say, the scrapping of the policy
was met with very little, if any, support. In the eyes of many it was culled post-election so that housebuilders had one less hurdle to jump through and in doing so would help to kick-start housebuilding. However this is a very naive and short-term view. Killing Zero Carbon Homes simply reinforced the view that the Government has very little understanding of green policies and scant ideas in terms of a long-term strategy
to create more sustainable housing. On the back of support to the COP21
Paris, which saw over 170 countries sign the agreement, the support for Zero Carbon Homes is understandable. But if Zero Carbon Homes is going to rise phoenix-like from the ashes, the question is, is it back for good or just back on the agenda? The hope is that it is back for good. The
industry has not lost faith in it and there is still momentum and desire for zero carbon homes. For example, there is still innovation in products and technology that are striving to make zero carbon more easily achiev- able, regardless of whether it is mandatory or not. It is welcome news but this is a long way
to go. However it does demonstrate there is still Parliamentary support for zero carbon – and its reinstatement would be met with open arms across the industry.
Enq. 103
10
selfbuilder & homemaker
www.sbhonline.co.uk
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