Gov Announces New Energy Efficiency Standards For Homes & Businesses

Gov Announces New Energy Efficiency Standards For Homes & Businesses

The housing minister has announced that all homes and businesses around the UK will need to meet new energy efficiency standards in order to lower both energy consumption and bills, with all properties expected to be zero carbon ready by 2025.

In order for industry to be ready to meet these new standards, all new builds will be expected to produce 31 per cent lower CO2 emissions from this year, while existing homes will also be expected to meet higher standards.

This means that repairs, parts and replacements will need to be more eco-friendly, as well, with features included fixed lighting, cooling systems and heat pumps.

Measures due to be implemented also include a new requirement for additional ventilation and the monitoring of indoor air quality in high-risk non-domestic buildings like gyms and offices. A new overheating mitigation requirement has also been set out in the Building Regulations.

The government is committed to reaching its goal of net zero and is now taking considerable action to tackle the problem of emissions from buildings, with heating and powering currently making up 40 per cent of the UK’s total energy usage.

Housing minister Christopher Pincher said: “Improving the energy performance of buildings is vital to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 and protecting the environment for future generations to come.

“The radical new standards announced today will not only improve energy efficiency of existing homes and other buildings, but will also ensure our new homes are fit for the future, by reducing emissions from new homes by at least 75 per cent.”

A consultation is also set to be held on higher performance targets for non-domestic buildings, ensuring that they are zero carbon ready by 2025.

The COP26 climate summit is due to be hosted by the UK this November, with a focus on architecture and construction, with president Alok Sharma recently announcing that a built environment day will be included in the plans.

In a letter to the World Green Building Council, Mr Sharma explained that decarbonising buildings and the construction sector as a whole is “critical to meeting our Paris Agreement goals”.

He went on to say that the built environment is essential in driving a green recovery from the pandemic and the UK is now taking action in this regard, with a net zero building package worth more than £3 billion, a Ten Point Plan to make hospitals, schools and homes greener, warmer and more efficient, and supporting up to 50,000 jobs within five years.

However, according to the Architects Journal, the Conservative election manifesto included a £9.2 billion pledge to retrofit homes, schools and hospitals, but it’s believed that this policy has been watered down by former chief adviser Dominic Cummings, with only smaller sums since pledged by the Treasury for this purpose.

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