UKERC EDC: Publications

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Abstract:

This document consists of Progress reports to parliament on sustainability and measures to improve compliance with Part L of the Building Regulations'.

As the Stern Review highlighted, there is now an overwhelming body of scientific evidence showing that climate change is a serious and urgent issue. We are publishing today, under the provisions of the Sustainable and Secure Buildings Act 2004 and the Climate Change and Sustainable Energy Act 2006 action the Government has taken, and plans to take, to address these issues.

Buildings account for approximately half of UK total carbon emissions with homes accounting for more than a quarter of emissions.

Construction and use of buildings has a range of other environmental impacts, created for example through water use, waste generation and use of polluting materials, which can be significantly reduced through the integration of higher sustainability performance standards within the design.

To harness the opportunities presented by environmental improvements to buildings, Government has introduced tougher standards such as the revisions to Part L of the Building Regulations in April 2006, which raised overall energy efficiency standards. These new measures, taken together with earlier changes to strengthen Part L of the Building Regulations in 2002, will improve energy efficiency standards for new homes by around 40 per cent, compared to 2001 standards.

On 13 December 2006 the Government launched a challenging package of measures, designed to help to reduce carbon emissions and improve the environmental footprint of new homes. The package includes:

The consultation document Building a Greener Future: Towards Zero Carbon Development. This proposes a framework for progressively tightening building regulations up to 2016 to increase the energy efficiency and reduce the carbon footprint of new homes. The proposal is that all new homes should be zero carbon by 2016;

The Code for Sustainable Homes, which aims to increase the environmental sustainability of new homes and give homeowners better information about the sustainability of their home. It sets out a star rating from one to six (with six being the most sustainable) which can be applied to all new homes. From April 2008, after learning from the voluntary phase, we intend to propose that all new homes should be required to have a mandatory Code rating, indicating whether they have been assessed and the performance of the home against the Code;

A draft Planning Policy Statement on climate change, which expects planning strategies to be tested on their carbon ambition and, in providing for new homes, jobs and infrastructure needed by communities, shape places with lower carbon emissions and resilient to climate change. The PPS expects new development to be located to optimise its carbon performance and make the most of existing and planned opportunities for decentralised, renewable and low-carbon, energy supplies.

This report is divided into the following sections:

Introduction
Sustainable and Secure Buildings Act 2004: First biennial report as required by section 6 regarding progress made on sustainability
Climate Change and Sustainable Energy Act 2006: Report as required by section 14 regarding compliance with Part L of the building Regulations

Publication Year:

2006

Publisher:

Department for Communities and Local Government

DOI:

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Author(s):

Department for Communities and Local Government

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