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VIEWS VIEW POINT
Architect Tom Dollard from Pollard Thomas Edwards looks at the likely impact of an AECOM-led research project into creating affordable low carbon housing at scale, highlighting the potential but also the serious barriers that remain
B
uilding for 2050 is a major, fi ve-year research project commissioned by the Department of Business, Energy and Industry in 2017, into the delivery of low cost, low carbon homes at scale. The Government has invested around £1.9m in the project, which has been led by AECOM, with the research team also consisting of architects Pollard Thomas Edwards, building consultants Four Walls, and energy consultancy LCP Delta. The research, which includes quantitative study of real projects, focuses on the realities of delivering low carbon developments in England and Wales, but the key fi ndings broadly apply to new housing throughout the UK. Including real-world examples, the ‘Building for 2050’ report provides a snapshot of the UK’s construction industry and its ability to deliver low carbon homes now. It is a ground-breaking document which identifi es how to minimise cost and improve energy effi ciency in reducing carbon emissions, while increasing consumer demand, driving growth, and accelerate industry delivery of low carbon housing.
The project emerged as part of the Construction Sector Deal established by the Government in 2018 as “an ambitious partnership between Government and the construction to upskill the sector on innovative technologies. Five years on, launching the new Building for 2050 report, fi ve years on, business and energy Minister Lord Callanan summed up the Government’s view: “Making the UK’s homes more energy effi cient is the best way to cut household energy use and reduce energy bills.” The Government is investing heavily in the challenge of cutting emissions from all UK buildings; Lord Callanan confi rmed its goal of a 15% cut by 2030, against the backdrop of an overall 78% cut in UK emissions by 2035 (against 1990 levels).
The Future Homes and Buildings Standard will cut emissions in new homes
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The Building for 2050 project team at the Tallack Road project in north east London (Tom Dollard second from left)
by 75-80% by 2025. Lord Callanan said that the research was important to “build our understanding on the best way to deliver low-carbon strategies for new homes as we continue reducing the country’s contribution to climate change by 2050.” The report defi nes ‘low cost low carbon’ homes low carbon homes with a lifetime cost similar to, or lower than, standard new homes currently on the market. In terms of emissions, the homes studied in the report are equivalent to Code for Sustainable Homes 5 or 6 (or Code 4 with a fabric fi rst approach) or Passivhaus.
The research examined the drivers, attitudes, barriers and challenges related to low cost, low carbon housing, and will be used to help shape policy on delivering low carbon homes in the UK. The resulting in- depth report explores the pros and cons of living in low carbon homes, and underlines the importance of local planning policy for catalysing their development. It benchmarks the British construction industry’s ability to mitigate the impact of climate change. Crucially, Building for 2050 makes clear that if all new homes are constructed to a low carbon standard, there should be
no need to retrofi t these homes before the UK Government’s net zero 2050 deadline. Yet the report also identifi es signifi cant skills gaps across the construction industry and makes clear that performance gaps – the difference between a building’s predicted and actual energy use – are still commonplace in new-build developments.
Research methods
The research included a detailed analysis of case studies – small-scale housing developments in Cambridge (Marmalade Lane Cohousing), Neath (Active Homes), Corby (Etopia Homes), and London’s Waltham Forest (Tallack Road), as part of a rounded analysis of the whole process from inception to occupancy – developing, designing, constructing, and living in low cost, low carbon homes. The report identifi es the barriers and opportunities to delivering such homes at scale, and quantifi es the likely impact on energy demand and carbon emissions. No major housebuilder is building low carbon homes at scale in the UK. This is why the case studies focus on low carbon projects by small and medium-sized
ADF JANUARY 2023
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