黑洞社区

The government鈥檚 move to water down energy efficiency targets in its changes to Part L of the 黑洞社区 Regulations means the industry now faces a stiff challenge to meet the 2016 zero carbon target, experts have warned.

The government unveiled its long-awaited changes to Part L on Tuesday (30 July), more than a year after the consultation on the proposals closed.

The regulations set out the energy efficiency requirements for buildings and are seen as critical to making all new homes zero-carbon by 2016 - a key part of the government鈥檚 commitment to cut the UK鈥檚 carbon emissions.

Under the revisions, new build homes will have to be 6% more efficient than under current regulations - a reduction on the 8% target set out in the consultation, which closed in April 2012.

The changes will also see an uplift in efficiency standards of 9% for non-domestic buildings, which falls short of the 20% improvement proposed in the consultation.

However, as revealed by 黑洞社区 last week, the regulations will now come into force in April 2014, after originally being scheduled to be implemented in October 2013.

In a written statement in the House of Lords, Baroness Hanham said the plans were a 鈥渟tep towards our zero-carbon ambitions鈥�.

She added that the government would be introducing a fabric energy efficiency target, a move that has widespread industry support.

Full details on how this new target will work, along with the targets for different building types and how the improvements will be calculated, are expected to be published next week.

Industry figures welcomed the fact that the government had now published the proposals, after a year of waiting, but warned that the delay in implementing the changes until April next year, added to the smaller than expected uplift in standards, could place the 2016 zero carbon goal under threat.

WSP sustainability director David Bownass said it was 鈥渄ifficult to understand鈥� how the targets had been derived, as they did not form part of the original consultation.

鈥淚t seems to be a lot of cost and disruption for such a small improvement over a limited period of time.

鈥淚t鈥檚 now very hard to see how the industry will be ready to implement zero carbon standards in 2016.鈥�

John Alker, director of policy and communications at UK Green 黑洞社区 Council, said: 鈥淭here can be no excuses for the length of time this has taken, but finally industry has clarity on Part L.

鈥淭he uplift is less ambitious than any of the options consulted upon.

鈥淗owever, the fact there is any uplift at all is good news.鈥�

David Adams, director at the Zero Carbon Hub, said despite the lower than expected efficiency targets, the strategy to focus on fabric first was a 鈥渟ensible technical step鈥�, as it would focus the industry on improving building materials.

However, he said concerns remained over the 2016 zero-carbon target.

Part L key changes

• New build homes will have to be 6% more efficient than under current regulations
• New non-domestic buildings will need to be 9% more efficient
• The government will consult 鈥渟hortly鈥� on how to implement allowable solutions, which enable housebuilders to meet their carbon requirements with off-site work
• Introduction of a new fabric energy efficiency target, but the details of what this will involve have yet to be published
• The fuel factor, which relaxes carbon standards for homes that are built off the main gas grid, will remain at its current level
• The government will not be pushing ahead with quality assurance certification plans. It had proposed that builders would need to become accredited to avoid having to deliver an extra 3% carbon emissions saving on their projects.
• The government said consultation responses had expressed a need for greater understanding of the problem before regulation was introduced.