Residential and commercial buildings account for around 30% of the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions, according to BEIS (2021) Heat and Buildings Strategy. Therefore, improving energy efficiency and reducing carbon emissions in this sector is crucial to meeting the UK net zero targets by 2050. 

In December 2023, 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.

Timeline of implementation of the Future Homes and Buildings Standards

Future Homes and Building Standards

The most significant announcement in the draft regulations is the proposed phase out of fossil fuel heating and hot water systems in new buildings. Gas boilers, including hybrid heat pumps and hydrogen-ready boilers, along with biofuel systems, are not expected to meet the proposed standards of being commercially available, zero carbon ready systems.

Heat pumps and heat networks are seen as the future of low-carbon heat sources, which should boost the already growing heat pump market in the UK. With this significant electrification of heating systems, the Government is counting on the expected decarbonisation of the National Grid to reduce emissions.

While progress is clearly being made in terms of building systems, no further improvement is proposed for minimum building fabric specifications, with negligeable changes compared to the 2021 standard. The Government believes the current fabric specifications are a “good basis” (DLUHC (2023) FHBS Scope of consultation) for the Future Homes and Buildings Standards. This is, perhaps, surprising for a future-looking standard, given that industry guidelines, such as the Low Energy Transformation Initiative (LETI), are already promoting more ambitious targets, as shown in the table below:

This lack of ambition could be perceived as a missed opportunity to improve building performance. In particular, very little is said about existing buildings, given that dwellings built before 1945 accounted for two thirds of the aggregate fuel poverty gap in 2022 (DESNZ (2023) Fuel Poverty Statistics England).

Lastly, the embodied carbon is left as the elephant in the room. In July 2021, industry professionals  proposed a Building Regulations ‘Part Z’ intended to regulate these emissions. The Government recognises that it is ‘crucial that we take steps to address it’. However, the topic is not covered by this revision, although future consultation on the subject is promised. 

The new ‘Home Energy Model’

Compliance metrics remained unchanged in this update. However, significant changes are made to the Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP) methodology, used to demonstrate compliance and to generate Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) for domestic buildings. The more sophisticated tool, renamed the ‘Home Energy Model’, is the subject of a separate consultation.  

Overall, this update is essential to bring the building sector closer to net zero targets. However, the proposed enhancement of building energy performance is not considered to be particularly bold compared to the progress made by the wider industry in this matter, especially given that these standards apply to regulated energy use only.

Further information

Contact Dan Jestico or Mat Naccarato