The Government has finally unveiled some of the changes to Part L of the Building Regulations.
The amended regulations will be laid before Parliament ‘shortly’, with the changes coming into force on 6 April 2014, rather than October this year, as originally planned.
The revised measures will mean a 6% cut in carbon emissions for new build homes, Non-domestic buildings will have to deliver a 9% improvement compared to the 2010 standards. For these, minimum energy efficiency standards will be strengthened when works include air conditioning and lighting replacements.
It is difficult to understand how these figures were derived as they did not form part of the original consultation. For many it will be seen as a lot of cost and disruption for such a small improvement over a limited period of time, and if it is intended to be a step towards 2016 zero carbon new dwellings surely now there is a huge leap needed if this government road map is not to be derailed.
It’s now very hard to see how the construction industry will be ready to implement zero carbon standards in 2016.
The government said it would ‘shortly’ publish a consultation on the next steps to take forward zero carbon homes.
A spokesperson for the Department claims that the small, resulting increase in construction costs will be heavily outweighed by subsequent energy savings. It claims the new measures will create a £384 million net saving for people and businesses over the average lifetime of the new features, and reduce CO2 emissions by c.6.4m tonnes.
Buildings account for around half the UK’s carbon emissions and cutting these is a significant part the government’s tug of war with the stagnant economy battling against its commitment to tackle climate change.
Homebuilders will continue to have flexibility in meeting carbon dioxide targets, but the changes emphasise that the quality of the building fabric is a significant part of the equation.
It had been suggested that House builders should use this delay as an opportunity to really get to grips with zero carbon – to understand the principles behind the latest revisions and what they will actually mean in practice.
The government announced that it will consulting ‘in due course’ on Allowable Solutions – the measures housebuilders can use to achieve a zero carbon rating.
There is currently no word on whether Fabric Energy Efficiency Targets are to be introduced to the new Part L, or what the new limiting U-Values are going to be for new build. These and many other details about Part L 2014 will be put to Parliament ‘soon’ . The House of Commons is on recess until September 2nd.
Meanwhile, the government has officially dropped plans to strengthen the minimum energy efficiency standards for extensions and replacement windows to existing homes.
The new regulations are not retrospective and therefore, will not apply to existing homes having already announced the scrapping of consequential improvements when aspects such as new boilers are installed.
Last week, the Welsh Minister for Housing, announced an 8% cut through an updated Part L. This suggests, that emission targets between England and Wales are going to be different.
Clients who are interested in receiving details of these changes, either as a cpd session or an electronic session should send their enquiry to either info@salusai.co.uk or fire.safety@salusai.co.uk