36
SPONSORED RESEARCH
THE CHANGING APPROACHES TO ELECTRIC SHOWERS FOR FHS COMPLIANCE
As the UK electrifi es and decarbonises heating, there are opportunities for housebuilders to explore non-standard approaches to considering the ‘whole house’ for eff ective, sustainable energy and water savings. In association with Triton Showers, we report on a recent survey of housebuilders that highlighted opportunities to enhance understanding of the solutions available for supporting the Future Homes Standard using practical, common-sense approaches.
Ofwat estimates that by 2050, an extra four billion litres of water will be required in England and Wales. In order to deliver this, it says three things need to happen: supply needs to be boosted, demand reduced, and water wastage tackled. Housebuilding is a fundamental part of driving this change and contributing to the saving of water, as well as reducing energy usage overall. Both climate change and population growth have contributed to the need to save water, and Part G and the new Part L and Future Homes Standard (FHS) all look to address the issues. While Part L and the FHS aim to reduce energy usage and carbon emissions more broadly, Part G focuses specifi cally on water effi ciency, covering items such as fl ow rates and household water usage. Energy saving electric showers therefore have an important role to play in meeting these goals. In association with Triton, we compiled a survey to gain insight into the views of housebuilders and developers on the challenge of including water-saving and energy-effi cient solutions in their projects, to benefi t them and their customers. While building fabric improvements, such as high insulation levels, can help a home’s overall energy effi ciency, domestic hot water usage isn’t impacted by measures such as this. With building effi ciencies improving, it’s likely hot water will become the largest expense for household energy budgets. Products like high-effi ciency showers are key, with showers alone responsible for 11.5% of a home’s overall energy use. We therefore sought to discover how housebuilders are working towards meeting targets, their views on the available solutions, and the general water and energy saving agenda. The results help shed light on where potential issues lie and what future collaboration is needed to develop lower-energy homes. Our survey sought the opinions of those working for developers, with 40.8% of respondents working at director level positions. 10.2% hold chief executive positions, with the remaining 50% being made up of a combination of managers, quantity surveyors, chairmen, and architects.
WWW.HBDONLINE.CO.UK
Most of the respondents work for a developer (39.6%), 12.5% for a housing association, and 10.4% for a housebuilder. In the last year, 30.9% of these built between six and 20 homes a year, 16.4% built 50 to 200 homes, and 14.6% built 201 to 1,000 homes a year. However, following Angela Rayner’s revised National Planning Policy Framework announcement earlier this year, a surprisingly high 21.4% of respondents said they foresee their fi rm building ‘much less than usual’ in the future.
THE NEED FOR DECARBONISATION
The shift to electric solutions in housing in order to meet sustainability targets isn’t a new concept, but is one that the industry is still working to deliver on. This can in part be blamed on previous incentives, which saw the government subsidise fossil fuels and infl ate electricity prices, something 78.6% of our respondents were aware of. The government is aiming to decarbonise the grid by 2035 by reducing the UK’s reliance on fossil fuels. As this becomes a reality and the previous gas subsidy is fully reversed, 75% of respondents said electricity will become the more favourable option from a cost perspective, highlighting the urgency for housebuilders to make electrifi cation fi nancially viable.
WATER USAGE & EFFICIENCY
Housebuilders are acutely aware of the need to decarbonise housing stock and implement more energy- and water-effi cient technologies. When asked how important overall water effi ciency is when building new houses, 89.3% said it was important to
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84
