32 BUILDING
INSIGHTS LIVE
Round table chair, James Parker
Approaches to Heating & Renewables for Future Homes Standard Compliance
W
ith the publication of the Government’s fi nal consultation response for the Future Homes Standard (FHS) only 24 hours old, we staged the fi rst of two Building Insights
LIVE round tables in London, to look at the realities of heating and renewables compliance with the new standard. The event was sponsored by Panasonic Heating & Ventilation, WMS Underfl oor Heating, Garo Electric, Recoup Energy Solutions and Envirovent, and heard valuable contributions from all fi rms’ representatives as well as a broad range of other expert attendees.
They are collectively tasked with delivering low carbon heating as well as general energy effi ciency on new homes, and the standard poses several challenges. Housebuilders gave key viability insights, leading academics shared research, and consultants and industry bodies offered their own perspectives and expertise. The standard (in the form of the consultation response – the full FHS will not be implemented until March 2027) was launched on 24 March after a long delay. But delegates were fi nally able to
assess its actual provisions for the industry, as well as the revised Building Regulations Parts L and F. One concern for the heating and renewables side was the ‘functional’ requirement for 40% of new homes’ ground fl oor area to be delivered by roof-mounted solar PV. There was some consternation that this cannot be traded off against other elements in designs, compromising design fl exibility around balancing the other elements in the chosen Option 1 (mechanical ventilation, higher air-tightness and waste water heat recovery). Battery storage of PV-generated electricity is conspicuous by its absence in the consultation response (like embodied carbon). Our delegates were broadly critical of both omissions, and other key fl aws within the long-awaited FHS. There were a range of views on the PV issue, including on whether kilowatts should instead be used as the target measure, not a percentage, and exemptions to the 40% area functional requirement. Some suggested that this would need to be further revised before the introduction of the Home Energy Model, due to eventually replace SAP, in 2027. Delegates said the lack of
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