Housing Minister aims for "tough but realistic" zero carbon homes standard

The Housing Minister has unveiled more details of the government’s approach to zero carbon homes, which he said would be “tough but realistic”.

The Zero Carbon Homes standard will apply to the building of all new homes started after 2016. In a statement, Grant Shapps said the regulatory threshold for zero carbon would be set to cover only those emissions which are within the scope of the Building Regulations such as those from heating, ventilation, hot water, fixed lighting and building services.

The Minister said that asking house builders to put in place measures to reduce the admissions from appliances – as had been suggested by previous approaches to zero carbon homes policy – would have been unfair. “Occupants' use of appliances, such as computers or televisions, is not influenced by the design or structure of their home and is therefore beyond the control of the house builder,” he said.

Shapps suggested that house builders – working with local planning authorities – were free to go further in abating emissions from appliances if they wanted to.

He added that the government would work with councils and developers to ensure that the cumulative impact of regulation and other costs can be assessed, “without adding complex and unwieldy bureaucracy to plans”.

The Minister said: “We need to deliver carbon savings in order to meet the Carbon Budgets to which we are committed, and this means that the carbon footprint of new homes cannot be allowed to add to our overall carbon reduction targets. But this needs to be done in ways which are cost effective and which protects the viability of house building.”

The Minister also said the government would:

• bring in the Fabric Energy Efficiency Standard as based on the work of the Zero Carbon Hub
• use the Hub's recommendations on where to set the maximum levels of on site carbon dioxide emissions as a starting point for consultation as part of future revisions to the Building Regulations
• build on an approach based on real world carbon savings, rather than modelled reductions in emissions
• consider the Hub’s detailed recommendations on technical matters as part of its work on the Building Regulations
• ensure that a mechanism is available that allows house builders to meet their commitments at a cost no higher than the government's long-term value of carbon. “This ensures that the offsite requirement of the policy will be delivered cost effectively. This will give industry a benchmark against which to target innovation in carbon reduction technologies which will drive down costs over time”
• work with industry on options for a mechanism to deliver these offsite measures, “which will: be made available to all developers operating in England; be cost effective by ensuring offsite measures are no higher than the Governments' long term value of carbon; and ensure that any funds raised will be dedicated to carbon abatement”
• review the measures which can be supported under these approaches and consult further with industry, local government and other partners.

Grant Shapps said: “Taken together, these proposals deliver a realistic and effective approach to zero carbon, on a par with the most ambitious international efforts to cut domestic carbon and build better, more sustainable homes, whilst at a greatly reduced cost to industry.

“However, we are keen to look at innovative ways for house builders to meet the additional costs associated with building zero carbon homes. In particular, we are ready to explore with industry the potential of a Green Deal type financing approach for new homes, as a way of offsetting some of the up front costs of zero carbon. We are aware that industry is already forming its thinking on how this can work, and we will continue to work with partners on how best to take this forward.”