NHBC’s Post

NHBC Foundation have published a key piece of industry research on 'The UK’s progress towards a Passivhaus standard in new homes'. This was researched and written by Neil Cutland and Samuel Lott from Sava. Housing supply in the UK continues to lag demand. In England alone, the annual target is for 300,000 new homes a year with new build expected to deliver the majority. However, it is not just a question of quantity. These new homes will need to be delivered with low energy demand, zero-carbon ready and to a high quality giving homeowners confidence in the construction sector. In order for the UK to meet its climate change objectives, consideration will have to be given to the embodied carbon of new buildings and how this can be reduced. And the in-use performance of new homes continues to be a concern with recent energy price increases making consumers more aware of running costs. In other words, the importance of ensuring that what is designed is actually built is greater than ever. Just over ten years ago, the NHBC Foundation looked at whether Passivhaus could address most of these points. This report looks at the barriers and highlights where positive progress has been made.

🚨 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Consultation Alert! Scottish Passivhaus equivalent - Stage 1 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🚨   This week the Scottish Government released its Stage 1 Consultation regarding the proposed Scottish Passivhaus equivalent standard.   The purpose of this standard is to continue the Scottish Government’s commitment to its Net Zero goals and to provide ultra low energy, low carbon homes that are built inline with design intent.   The first stage of this process aims to gather industry views on how the Passivhaus standard could be implemented within the Scottish Building Standards. Stage 2 is anticipated in Summer 2025 which will provide further detail about this standard in practice and the performance targets required.   SK/AD supports the Government’s Net Zero goals and look forward to providing our practical feedback in this initial consultation. As designers, Passivhaus consultants and building performance specialists, we understand the challenges faced when achieving such a standard, or it's equivalent, at scale.   You can read more by following the link below:   https://lnkd.in/dsGzBE45   #scotland #passivhaus #energyefficiency #netzero #buildingstandards #buildingperformance

"Meeting net-zero standards will block housebuilders", the Tories said. "Nope - it doesn't", our research says. Alex McCann and our team have been crunching the numbers across three ambitious local authorities to establish the true impact of having sector-leading net-zero plans: Cornwall Council, Bath & North East Somerset Council and Central Lincolnshire. 🏘️ Read the full piece here 👉 https://lnkd.in/gmAY9e9j In a nutshell: 🌊 Cornwall Council: after the council adopted its progressive Development Plan Document in June 2023, applications for planning permission for new housing increased by 8.5%, 🏛️ Bath & North East Somerset Council: after the council adopted its DPD in January 2023, accepted residential applications increased by 7.7% 🏙️ Central Lincolnshire: applications approved for major residential projects saw no big change, however, applications for minor housing projects were reduced (more on this in our blog). More research is needed across a larger sample size to be confident about our preliminary findings and the conclusions that can be drawn. But still, these are encouraging signs that energy-based net-zero policies needn’t be a barrier to delivering new homes at scale. And given the vanishing window we have left to prevent catastrophic climate and nature breakdown, this research is needed urgently to drive forward innovation and calm nerves in the industry. For now, this is a slice of good news for the 250+ industry leaders that signed our recent campaign calling for a better Future Homes Standard to help the UK meet its legally binding net-zero targets and lower household energy bills. Signatories included Good Homes Alliance, UK Green Building Council (UKGBC), Town and Country Planning Association (TCPA) and LETI 👉 https://lnkd.in/gAV7beYr We hope and expect that the new Labour Government will strengthen the proposed Future Homes Standard and revoke the infamous 2023 Written Ministerial Statement. But for now, all progressive local authorities should be encouraged by these findings. Interested in our support for local authorities? Get in touch with our Director of Sustainable Places, Lewis Knight.

It has long been advocated by lackadaisical housebuilders that net zero standards will significantly impact their ability to deliver new homes. Although preliminary data, the trends show that this is not remotely the case across the majority of data points assessed. Can anyone point me in the direction of evidence to suggest the contrary? Or perhaps these claims have in fact been driven by vested interests? We look forward to assessing the implementation of these policies over the coming months to further strengthen the argument that the housing and climate crises can be addressed simultaneously.

Our #LREFInsights begin for 2024 - and we're kicking off with a piece from Headline Partner Savills on navigating the future homes and buildings standards. Residential and commercial buildings account for around 30% of the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions, according to BEIS (2021) Heat and Buildings Strategy; improving energy efficiency and reducing carbon emissions in this sector is crucial to meeting the UK net zero targets by 2050. In December the Government published a consultation, open until 6 March, on the Future Homes and Buildings Standards, which aims to make new homes and non-domestic buildings ‘zero-carbon ready’. Long awaited by the industry, it will update the Building Regulations Part L 2021, and set the energy performance in England from 2025 for new and existing buildings undergoing refurbishment. Read more 👉 https://lnkd.in/eW5wH_Pw

Amazing piece of thought leadership from my colleague Alex McCann With the recent WMS on energy efficiency standards and the even more recent judicial review judgement, this research and insight is even more pertinent. The fallout from this is that local authorities are potentially limited in their ability to set ambitious energy standards that are compatible with our UK net zero targets. Inital research shows that the use and adoption of truly net zero policies that use EUI and space heat demand metrics are not inhibiting planning approvals and delivery of housing (noting the sample size). We need to be mindful of this as we hear a lot over the coming few weeks from the new Government that building new homes is a priority and anything that restricts this, must be avoided. Our view is clear. Ambitious, but clear and consistent policies that align with the 2050 net zero target, and allow for LPAs to set their own standards do not prevent approvals and new homes to be built. Bioregional Marina Goodyear Good Homes Alliance Etude Thomas Lefevre Clara Bagenal George Anna MacKenzie Ronan Leyden

In a climate where #energyefficiency is one of the primary requirements of our buildings – both old and new – England’s 350,000 listed homes and the 2.8 million that are situated in conservation areas have long been problematic in this regard. A new Government review titled: Adapting historic homes for energy efficiency: a review of the barriers sets out to address these issues. The report has been published by the Department for Culture, Media & Sport, The Department for Energy Security & Net Zero and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities. Buildings remain the UK’s second highest-emitting sector, accounting for 17% of total emissions. Furthermore, the #UK has the oldest building stock in #Europe with 36% of it built before 1944. Needless to say, planning was identified as a major barrier to the retrofitting of energy efficiency and #lowcarbon heating measures such as #solarpanels, #heatpumps and #doubleglazing. While 93% of applications are approved, it is the length of the process that was frustrating. There are around 27,000 listed building consent applications to local planning authorities per year, with only 76% of applications decided within the expected 8-week timescale. Cost is another issue, with a 2022 survey of the owners and occupiers of listed buildings finding that cost was the most significant obstacle to #retrofitting. The review concludes with a summary of 55 ‘current actions and future commitments’ designed to enable the efficient retrofitting of such properties,. These include: - Delivery of planning reform so that it supports good design and environmental outcomes better, is less complex, and easier to engage with. - Publish a Historic England Advice Note (HEAN) on Climate Change and Historic Building Adaptation to help decision-makers deliver #climateaction while protecting heritage - Development of a new online training platform that can provide training to #localauthorities - Set out clearly which energy efficiency measures need planning permission or listed building consent Explore how retrofit funding programmes can support complex-to-#decarbonise homes and #historicbuildings. Chris Hewett, Chief Executive of Solar Energy UK said: ‘It is plain to see that there is far too much bureaucracy getting in the way of installing #solarpanels and other energy upgrades, where they can be done in an appropriate and respectful fashion, on England’s older buildings. So I am glad to see that the government is pushing forward with making the confusing series of existing rules clearer, while easing them in the longer term.’

Have you heard of the Future Homes Standard? 🏘️ By upgrading the standards for new buildings, the Future Homes Standards will help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and ensure the UK meets the commitment of achieving net zero emissions by 2050. The policy’s objectives are to deliver: ✔️ Significant carbon savings, which will contribute to the UK’s net-zero goal by 2050. ✔️ High-quality homes that are energy-efficient (helping to protect occupants from excessive energy bills), comfortable, promoting healthy living, and, above all else, affordable. ✔️ Homes designed and built with renewable or electric energy sources so that when the electricity grid becomes fully decarbonized, no further modifications will be necessary for the building to achieve zero carbon emissions. ✔️ Cost-effective and achievable approaches to low-carbon heating systems. While the Future Homes Standard is an ambitious plan that means the construction industry must adopt new technologies, enhance skills, and embrace sustainable practices for new builds, it also paves the way for a better future. At Pristine Building Solutions, we’re 100% committed to ensuring we offer comfortable, energy-efficient and environmentally responsible homes for everyone to enjoy. Want to learn more about the Future Homes Standard? Discover the latest consultation here: https://lnkd.in/e2d7F4HC #Construction #NewBuilds #EnergyEfficient #AffordableHomes

🙌 This is great news! Older buildings often benefit the most from green technologies, such as ground source heat pumps, so relaxing planning rules will help these buildings transition faster and bring them in line with the majority of British buildings which don’t require planning permission to install heat pumps. Removing the barriers which prevent homes from installing clean heat solutions, such as ground source heat pumps, is essential in order to decarbonise Britain’s buildings. It also underlines the fact that electrified heat is the most viable and effective decarbonisation strategy for Britain’s existing buildings, as well new build projects. https://lnkd.in/ezk8f23D

If only!! and at last... Growing up in the seventies, we lived in a number of passive solar houses, designed and built by my father, the architect Cedric Green. He was undoubtedly ahead of his time. Now, as an architectural visualiser I get incredibly frustrated at the number of developments I work on with built with minimal energy efficiency, or concern for low carbon standards. Maybe it does cost more, but it's got to be a case of rethinking how things are done to find a way of creating efficiencies. And what price the future? #lowcarbonhomes #passivehaus #energyefficiency https://lnkd.in/ewjPASpb