60 INDUSTRY VIEWFINDER: APPROACH TO WATER EFFICIENCY IN NEW HOMES
art has been updated in recent years to tighten water effi ciency in new developments including a key update in which introduced the possibility of local authorities requiring a litres per person per day limit on homes. uch a change places challenges on housebuilders, yet there are a range of solutions available to them. e wanted to fi nd out whether housebuilders are in favour of such an approach, believe that the new regulations are inadequate, or have a different method. e also wanted to know the measures they were taking in this important but arguably overlooked area of sustainability. owever, while specifi cation could be benchmarked as best practice, in the end of course user behaviour will determine the true water use in each dwelling. ndustry association ater has done research that found a drastic mismatch between what homeowners think they use per day versus reality. he organisation said of people thought their household used under litres per person per day, when the true fi gure was closer to litres. his suggests that the onus is on the industry to ensure that products and controls which will make the usage more future-proof are specifi ed and installed.
he update to art also included a promotion of a
fi ttings-based’ approach to ensuring compliance, using the usage data from manufacturers, versus the pre-existing water calculator’ approach used in uilding egulations, which looks at the whole house. he fi ttings-based approach is key for both specifi ers and manufacturers, and the overnment, which is backing it as a means to provide clear information on water effi ciency, based on individual products installed, and solutions such as applying removable fl ow restrictors to a property. here are issues however such as the necessary additional cost of fl ow restrictors, but also not meeting clients’ expectations on performance when installing low-fl ow appliances. ith this being a crucial area for developers to grapple with, as well as a somewhat technical and niche area of sustainability, we decided to create an ndustry iewfi nder specifi cally focused on gaining real world insights on how housebuilding is addressing the need for water saving in new homes. ncluding comments from respondents, it offers a unique insight into what housebuilders and developers believe is the right approach to water effi ciency in new homes.
INTRODUCTION T
he need for high performance on water effi ciency in our new homes has never been more important the post- pandemic world and record rainfall mean that we have to ensure that our higher consumption is minimised by appliances and systems. he wider sustainability goals also include aims to reduce water usage, as countries like the become increasingly prone to drought as climate change worsens. ater is the water industry’s maor trade association, and has been collaborating with the overnment and its uture omes ask orce , to map out the approach to delivering the uture omes tandard. ntended to be introduced in , the standard will require new homes built to produce - fewer carbon emissions than the current regulations. he , convened by the ome uilders ederation, brings together housebuilders, utility providers, material suppliers, environmental groups, and the overnment. t has looked at all aspects of the housebuilding process and the performance of houses once built says ater , who add that it has provided substantial input about water consumption and surface water drainage in particular. ater consumption is governed by art of the uilding
egulations, two pproved ocuments which offer either a calculation approach based on litres per person,’ or a fi ttings approach’ where each device in a home has a maximum volume or fl ow rate. he litres per person per day metric is the most commonly used method, but ater says that it has fl aws and doesn’t guarantee that our new homes are actually water effi cient. ur ndustry iewfi nder survey spoke to housebuilders most at director level and other professionals in the housebuilding sector, regarding the key issues they are dealing with on water
Do you believe your customers will readily accept the new performance levels from the mandatory requirements (homes designed for 125 litres per person)?
effi ciency. e looked at their awareness of the provisions of art , their views on its achievability, but also whether it is strong enough. ther survey questions included how they were achieving art , such as whether they were using the fi ttings-based approach, or opting for the whole-house water calculator method. e also explored their issues around achieving water neutrality, which is a challenging goal required by some local authorities, meaning developments have been shown to not extract more potable water than existing levels, via using lower fl ow appliances and controls, but also offsetting. nd we also asked respondents who was responsible for specifi cation in their developments housebuilders, architects, installers, engineers or others, across a range of product areas, and how customers were responding to the new approaches.
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