Consultation Responses

On the 17 December the Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG) issued its consultation paper on the ‘Definition of Zero Carbon Homes and Non-Domestic Buildings’. The main focus of this revolved around technical issues for defining ‘zero carbon’ and how this can be managed through the planning system but it clearly had implications for the regional priorities of new house building and climate change. A key aim of the consultation was to balance the need to meet new house building targets and to reduce the UK’s carbon emissions from buildings, which account for 44% of the total output (27% from homes). To do this there needs to be a clear and agreed definition of what is meant by a zero carbon home. In a previous government policy statement this was set out as:

‘All new homes are to be built from 2016 in such a way that, after taking account of:

• Emissions from space heating, ventilation, hot water and fixed lighting;
• expected energy use from appliances;
• exports and imports of energy from the development (and directly connected energy installations) to and from centralised energy networks;

the building will have net zero carbon emissions over the course of a year.’

The consultation retained this approach of looking at net emissions over the course of a year and proposed that, to meet the zero carbon standard, homes should:

• be built with high levels of energy efficiency;
• achieve at least a minimum level of carbon reductions through a combination of energy efficiency, onsite energy supply and/or (where relevant) directly connected low carbon or renewable heat; and
• choose from a range of (mainly offsite) solutions for tackling the remaining emissions.

In issuing the consultation Government targeted a range of private sector interests including property developers, landowners, manufacturers of construction materials and energy using appliances and energy service and supplier companies. From the public sector the document was aimed at planning authorities, building control bodies and environmental organisations. While the consultation focused on planning and regulation it was clear that there are key housing and climate change/sustainable development implications. The Association, working with the North East Assembly, consulted more widely across housing, climate change and sustainable development policy colleagues and developed the following response which was signed off at the Plenary meeting on the 4th March.

View the response here.