Future Homes Standard explained

The government says it wants to drive down energy use in our homes. Tim Pullen explains what this means for self-builders and extenders

- TIM PULLIEN

The government put out consultation documents in 2019 called the Future Homes Standard. These sought feedback on proposed changes to Parts L (covering conservation of fuel and power) and F (dealing with ventilation) of the Building Regulations. The goal is to reduce energy consumption in new and existing buildings and to futureproof new homes. This could bring a significant change to the way energy consumption is considered in the design process. In January this year, new consultation versions of approved documents L and F were published, with the second round of submissions concluding in April. In this article, we'll explore a number of the key areas affected.

U values are a measure of thermal conductivity, which for our purposes is how quickly heat will be lost from inside a house to the outside. The proposals suggest that the minimum for these should be set to a slightly more stringent level. This also applies to airtightness, which forms a major part of the thinking in respect of both Part Land Part F. The proposed new lower (and thus more effective) levels are listed in the table overleaf.

The consultation document proceeds on the basis that the changes proposed will reduce total energy consumption and CO, emissions by more than 30%. It also suggests that the increased cost to the property developer could be as high as £5,000 for an “average' new home. That does not seem enough to be a deal-breaker, but the idea of carrying the cost of building climate change-aware houses is making Big Builders squirm like a skewered eel.