READER SURVEY: DELIVERINGTHE FUTURE HOMES STANDARD 45
with a wide range of energy-saving features. As well as pairing well with renewable heating sources
such as solar, they can offer extremely precise digital thermostats, 24/7 programming, open window detection, smart controls and low maintenance. Also powered by electricity, infra-red heating delivers
warmth through radiation; warming people and objects directly instead of the air around them. In turn this heat is ‘re-radiated’ back into the room – effectively recycling heating without it being lost to draughts. While less popular options among our respondents than others, 17% reported that they planned to use solar thermal technologies to meet the FHS, alongside 20% with electric radiators and 9% infra-red heating.
FABRIC FIRST
Advances in building fabric will be key to the higher specifications required to achieve both the interim FHS standard in 2022 and the full 75-80% efficiency uplift in 2025. Many in fact argue that taking a fabric-first approach,
rather than relying on ‘bolt-on’ technologies, is the most cost-effective, and reliable method of saving energy. The FHS is set to vastly increase fabric standards through
the Fabric Energy Efficiency Standard (FEES) – the standard for maximum space heating and cooling energy demand for zero carbon homes originally proposed as part of the defunct Zero Carbon Homes strategy. A total of 22% of our respondents reported a “shoring up of the FEES standard” as one of the perceived biggest benefits of the FHS. Increased fabric efficiency means that the renewable technologies described above don’t have to work as hard to meet the carbon reductions needed – therefore less energy is needed to power them. It is believed that this can make it possible for solar power to cover most of a building's
heating needs, potentially saving homeowners significant money on bills, which will be a helpful selling point.
THERMAL BRIDGING One specific area of fabric performance that is set to be addressed in the FHS is thermal bridging. Thermal bridges are areas within the building envelope where materials transfer significantly higher amounts of heat than those surrounding them, and is one of the major areas of fabric inefficiencies, reducing the overall thermal performance. Thermal breaks – consisting of material with low thermal
conductivity, are placed in key locations such as balconies, for example, to reduce or prevent the flow of thermal energy between the inside and outside of a building. The introduction of thermal breaks as standard in the FHS has been widely welcomed in the industry, and chosen as a major benefit by 23% of our respondents.
OVERHEATING According to the 2019 CCC report, since the organisation began looking at the issue five years ago 570,000 homes have been built which will overheat. It predicts the number of heat-related deaths in the UK could rise from an average of 2,000 to 7,000 a year by 2050, arguing that many new homes will soon be “uninhabitable.” The issue is likely to be compounded by the shift towards home working. Unfortunately, the 2021 response to the FHS consultation
was light on any specific details regarding likely regulation on overheating, though further details in this area are scheduled to be published in December 2021. Some areas of the FHS that have been unveiled already
that are likely to positively affect the problem, however, such as the bringing of the FEES fabric standard to the fore, as supported by our survey, alongside the FHS’ wider mitigation benefits to overheating – such as higher fabric standards making artificial ventilation far more efficient. The latter was also noted by respondents, with 25%
What do you think are the biggest benefits of the introduction of the Future Homes Standard?
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