The Housing Forum’s final Decarbonisation Webinar of the year opened with a welcome from Director of Policy & Public Affairs, Anna Clarke, before going into presentations from the panellists.
Decarbonisation and Sustainability into 2024 – Richard Lankshear, Programme Director at the Future Homes Hub
Richard presented about the Future Homes Hub’s work, the ongoing devising and future implementation of the Future Homes Standard 2025, and the future of the decarbonisation and sustainability sector.
The Future Homes Hub have been applying 17 ‘lenses’ to examine the implications of each of the five contender specifications suggested for the Future Homes Standard. Lenses comprise of individual areas such as building cost, household energy bills, and impact on national electricity demand.
Looking to the future, Richard discussed a degree of concern among housebuilders of how the Futures Homes Standard 2025 will work, and what transitional arrangements will be in place. New fabric and ventilation requirements in particular will have repercussions for skills and the supply chain.
With this in mind, the Future Homes Hub has established an FHS Implementation Board representing housebuilders, with working groups on fabric, customers, and heat pumps, and more working groups in the pipeline.
Those interested can stay abreast of new developments by joining the Future Homes Hub’s mailing list, and becoming a member.
PAS2035 – Guidance for retrofit homes: What it means in practice for improved energy efficiency – Alice Monty, Head of Retrofit Technical Solutions at Equans
Alice discussed Equans’ retrotit work, and the process of fulfilling the ‘PA2035’ process, a new standard established for how to conduct retrofit work aimed at reducing risk and improving customer protection. Many government grants require contractors to use ‘PA 2035’ processes, and so it is of increasing importance to the retrofit industry.
As a tier 1 contractor, Equans is increasingly focusing on retrofit to increase the energy of existing buildings. Consideration is needed for what fabrics to use, what sort of heating is used, and the cost and space implications for customers.
Alice ran through the 8 stages outlined in PAS2030 and PAS2035 (the installation section of PAS2035):
- Stage 1: Inception, consisting of Target setting and Engagement then Assigning Roles and Responsibilities. This entails setting desired outcomes for the project and assigning roles set out in the PAS2035 framework such as a Retrofit Assessor and Retrofit Coordinator.
- Stage 2: Dwelling Assessment, conducting an energy assessment, condition report, and occupancy assessment
- Stage 4: Improvement Option Evaluation & Medium Plan, conducted by the retrofit coordinator
- Stage 5: Retrofit Design, conducted by the retrofit designer, who must be a qualified architect, chartered survyeyor, or member of MCIOB, depending on the project.
- Stage 6: Installation, conducted by the retrofit installer.
- Stage 7: Monitoring and Evaluation, conducted by the retrofit evaluator, which consists of basic and further monitoring.
- Stage 8: Lodgement of the Project, conducted by the retrofit coordinator. Upon lodgement a Trustmark certificate number is generated and the project is auditable.
There are clear benefits of using PAS2035, not only that schemes will be eligible for government funding, but that they will have a clear audit trail for evaluation.
To successfully carry out PAS2030 and PAS2035 projects, several things will be needed:
- Appreciation of the PAS2030/PAS2035 process
- Access to PAS2030 supply chain
- Access to good people who can be nominated in the process
- Understanding of the cost involved
Home Water Recycling Case Study: grey water in use, Carolyn Hogg, Chief Executive, Cascade Water Products
Carolyn discussed the benefits of Cascade’s new product ‘Aqua Gratis’, a greywater recycling device which can can save 36,000 litres of drinking water and 15,500 kilograms of carbon in a 3-person household.
An increasing pressure is being put on the UK’s water supply. Developments have recently been refused planning permission on the back of concerns about water supply, and water companies are setting a per person consumption target of 100 litres per day, well below the current average of 147 litres per person per day.
With this in mind, recycling ‘greywater’, waste water from non-toilet plumbing systems such as showers and drains, can help to reduce water consumption in homes.
Aqua Gratis, which recycles water from shower drains to be used in toilet flushes, is one such technology. 31% of daily water use is consumed in the bath or shower, while 29% is used in flushing toilets. So it is the perfect opportunity for reducing water use.
The product is non-intrusive, with tanks installed behind the toilet in question, and wastewater from the shower filtered through self-cleaning filters, before flowing into the toilet tank. What’s more, the installation comes with smart sensors which can help to detect leaks and inefficiencies.
After Carolyn’s presentation all three panellists answered questions on a variety of topics, including the financial impact of new EPC requirements and removal of gas boiler deadline, what the biggest changes developers can make to make the largest impact, and what the future of home heating is beyond heat pumps.
After this, the audience went into breakout groups to discuss how ready residents and future residents are for a decarbonised future, what the biggest challenges and opportunities are for The Housing Forum members, and what topics in decarbonisation and stability The Housing Forum should cover in 2024.
“Timber Construction Barriers and Solutions” – a recent report for the APPG for the Timber Industries – David Hopkins, Chief Executive, Timber Development UK
David ran through the government’s Timber in Construction Policy Roadmap, produced by the Timber in Construction Working Group (TiCWG) in light of the recognition of the essential place of timber in construction to achieve the government’s net zero goals.
The government has a target for timber will be present in 80% of all home building by 2050, a figure already achieved in Scotland due to increased timber supply and a different building culture.
The Timber in Construction Roadmap had six crucial themes:
- Demand: many major housebuilders are either building timber factories or buying existing companies.
- Supply: the planning system needs streamlining for woodland creation, and DEFRA needs productive forestry targets.
- Building safety/insurance: The report calls on government to declare timber a safe building material and to foster dialogue between industry and insurance.
- Carbon: the report calls on the introduction of Whole Life Carbon Assessments
- (WLCAs) into building regulations
- Skills: More needs to be done to encourage DT in schools, to set up short courses and to create more apprenticeships in the area.
Those interested can read more on the APPG for Timber Industry’s website.
After his presentation, David answered questions on how Scotland’s 80% target had been achieved, and what his one ask of government would be.
Many thanks to everybody who spoke at and attended the event, our next Decarbonisation and Sustainability Webinar will be on Monday 26th February 2024.
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