How Are UK Energy Efficiency Building Regulations Changing in 2022?

 

As the threats of global warming increase more and more, lawmakers are taking concrete steps where possible to hopefully turn the tide.

In the property world, this means coming up with ways to cut co2 emissions through various regulations to follow throughout the development process.

So, what are the latest changes we can expect in the new year and what will this mean for property developers and their plans?

The New Regulations

From June this year, an interim uplift to standards will be introduced to improve the combination of insulation, energy efficiency and low-carbon heating technology within new properties.

How to reduce carbon emissions from buildings has sat with the government for some time. This new standard uplift hopes to provide the foundation for hitting its 2025 target of a 75% reduction in co2 emissions from all new homes.

For each plot to meet the requirements, the regulations state:

A new dwelling must be built to a minimum standard of total energy performance. This is

evaluated by comparing calculations of the performance of the dwelling against calculations of the performance of a theoretical dwelling called the ‘notional dwelling’. This must be carried out both at the design stage and when work is complete.”

With the longer-term target in mind, all new homes in England from 2022 will require a 31% reduction in emissions to coincide with these new standards.

 

How to Comply as a Developer

This new set of regulations will naturally take careful consideration from a property development point of view.

In contrast to previous changes to regulations, this uplift in standards will be assessed on a plot-by-plot basis.

This means that if a site has already started, then the regulations will only be enforced on the plots which are yet to begin work, rather than the site in its entirety.

A surely welcomed dynamic from the normal regulation changes, allowing developers to continue work without hiccups while integrating the new standard uplift to each plot from the beginning of the new year.

 

New Ventilation Standards

Another change in regulation that all developers will have to comply with regards ventilation standards in new homes.

While part L of the standard uplift focuses more on heat, part F draws attention to the minimum standard of ventilation performance.

This will impose much more detail around testing airtight homes, external pollutants and from another regulation, noise from ventilation too.

While the government estimates the number of untested homes to be relatively low, the new standards will seek to eradicate this while ensuring all new houses have minimal air leakage and maximum efficiency.

 

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