New homes will have to produce around 30% less carbon emissions from 2022, as part of a major update to the Building Regulations
The significant update provides an uplift to existing energy efficiency standards for homes, and marks a stepping stone towards the introduction of the Future Homes Standard in 2025.
The new Building Regulations comprise five new Approved Documents, including uplifts to Part L (fuel and power) and Part F (ventilation), which will come into effect from 15 June 2022, and will have a marked impact on new homes and existing homes.
In new homes, which will include self build homes, there will be new regulations to mitigate the risk of overheating. And in existing homes, standards have been raised to reduce energy use and carbon emissions during home improvements.
The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DHLUC) believes the new regulations will help the UK to meet its net zero target. Housing minister Eddie Hughes said: “The changes will significantly improve the energy efficiency of the buildings where we live, work and spend our free time and are an important step on our country’s journey towards a cleaner, greener built environment.”
What’s Been Announced?
The Building Regulations changes comes with £6.6 billion of direct investment into improving the energy efficiency of buildings, the government says. And the announcements impact both new homes and existing homes.
New homes
- There will be a 30% cut on emissions from new homes, as well as a 27% cut on new buildings including offices and shops
- An entirely new Building Regulation and Approved Document O has been set up to mitigate the risk of overheating in new homes. One key inclusion is that maximum limits to the amount of glazing will be set on new residential buildings
- New homes will adopt the Fabric Energy Efficiency Standard to measure energy efficiency
- There will be a maximum flow temperature requirement of 55°C for new and replacement heating systems, as part of the Part L uplift
- An appendix has been included in Part L which sets out a good practice specification for a home built with a heat pump.
Existing homes
- Uplifts to Part L & Part F of the Building Regulations have set new minimum standards for fabric efficiency. For example, there will be a new efficiency metric for the whole house calculation method for new extensions
- There will be a requirement for new or replacement heating system designs to accept low-carbon heating in future, including integrating the latest Ecodesign appliance benchmarks.
June 2022 is when the new regulations will come into effect