HEATING VENTILATION & SERVICES 45 TAKING A FAR SIGHTED VIEW
Nick Gander and Rod Davies of Energy Carbon discuss why they believe the Government is missing a trick with its Future Homes Standard, namely to promote the benefits of ‘far infrared’ radiation
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n January, as millions of people adjusted to life under the third national coronavirus lockdown, the Government quietly released a document with sweeping implications for the future of UK construction. This was the Government’s response to a 2019 consultation it held on its Future Homes Standard – Whitehall’s attempt to dramatically reduce the environmental damage caused by Britain’s houses and the housebuilding sector, as part of broader efforts to achieve net-zero carbon by 2050. The standard’s aim is simple, but
far-reaching. It’s designed to cut the carbon produced by the average new-build house by between 75 and 80 per cent in the coming years – something that would make a huge contribution to that quest for net-zero. Originally, Ministers had intended to
introduce interim measures in 2020 to strengthen Building Regulations as a stepping-stone to the full Future Homes
Standard. These measures would aim to cut the carbon emissions of the average new-build by 31 per cent. Unsurprisingly, given the vast disruption
caused by the coronavirus pandemic, this was postponed. In its consultation response, however, the Government announced that this interim phase would begin in 2021. Details will be finalised by December 2021, before coming into force officially in June 2022.
THE WHEELS BEGIN TO TURN In January the industry also got some much-needed clarification about exactly what the measures would entail. With its interim ‘stepping-stone’ to the full Future Homes Standard, the Government’s aim is to ensure that new-built homes are not installed with fossil fuel heating after 2025, and won’t require further retrofitting to make them fit for 2050.
The Government is also set to close
the loophole that’s previously allowed builders to only have to meet the energy efficiency standards that were in place when a development first started, even if those standards change in the meantime. From now on, rules will apply
to individual buildings, not whole developments. These are all extremely welcome moves. It feels like, finally, the wheels of the urgently-needed net-zero transition are starting to turn. However, there are aspects of the Government’s proposals that are less impressive.
THE GOVERNMENT’S AIM IS TO ENSURE THAT NEW- BUILT HOMES ARE NOT INSTALLED WITH FOSSIL FUEL HEATING AFTER 2025
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