20 THE CLIMATE CHALLENGE
TWO RADICAL PROPOSALS The consultation makes two very big and very radical proposals in this respect. Firstly, the long-standing transitional provi- sion within the Building Regulations will become a thing of the past. Historically, once one dwelling was commenced on a building site, all other homes within that development (where subject to the same building control application) needed only to meet the standards applicable on that first day. Given that many housing schemes went on hold in 2008 and didn’t emerge back into viability until 2014/15 it was not uncommon to find new homes on the market in 2017 built to 2006 standards. That Government has finally decided that
the time is right to act on such a long standing and divisive issue is a clear indica- tor of the shift in public expectations of action on climate change. The proposals are that from 2020, any new home should meet the relevant regulatory standards which apply on the day that construction starts. This means that new regulations will come into force very quickly – typically within six or twelve months of publication. A not so welcome proposal for some will
be to remove powers in the Planning and Energy Act 2008 that give local authorities the ability to require higher standards than Part L for sustainability. While many will say that removing these powers is a backward step, it is equally valid to argue that consolidating standards through the Building Regulations, where the perform- ance requirement is so similar (31 per cent compared to 35 per cent) will do far more to reduce carbon emissions by enabling consistent improvements in design, build quality and installation practice. In addition to both of the above,
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Government is proposing to phase out the use of fuel factors. On the one hand this takes into account the rapid decarbonisa- tion of the grid, which means that electricity no longer requires compensatory measures to be viable. Critically however, this also reflects a
desire to end the historical relief provided by fuel factors for carbon intensive fuels (LPG, Gas and oil in particular), which Government wants to see phased out of use. Removing fuel factors also removes a constantly moving (and arguably somewhat arbitrary) variable from within the energy efficiency calculation method- ologies, as well as helping to make primary energy metrics a more useful indicator of efficiency. In combination, these three measures –
(removing lengthy transitional periods, consolidating performance standards around the Building Regulations, and removing fuel factors) – have the potential to support industry in making much bigger and quicker strides in delivering genuine as built performance. Given the size of the performance gap in previous periods where energy efficiency standards have been ramped up, this has the potential to be a much bigger gain than any marginal sacri- fices that need to be made along the way. Changes to Part F (ventilation) are
worthy of separate consideration, but across the piece these Part L proposals represent not just a big step forward, but a mature appreciation of necessary lessons learned, and a clear way forward with respect to some of the more subtle but fundamental barriers to delivering genuine carbon reductions.
Richard Harral is technical director at CABE
GIVEN THAT MANY HOUSING SCHEMES WERE PUT ON HOLD IN 2008 AND DIDN’T EMERGE BACK INTO VIABILITY UNTIL 2014/15, IT WAS NOT UNCOMMON TO FIND NEW HOMES ON THE MARKET IN 2017 BUILT TO 2006 STANDARDS
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