Route map for zero carbon new homes within a decade

Ministers have set out their strategy for making sure that by 2016 all new homes built in the UK will be given a zero carbon rating.

Consultation has also begun on regulations to set minimum standards of water efficiency in new homes and commercial buildings.

Communities and Local Government Secretary, Ruth Kelly, outlined the steps at an event hosted by WWF, as her department published the draft Code for Sustainable Homes.

The code is aimed at increasing the environmental sustainability of new homes and provides homeowners with better information about the sustainability of their home.

Kelly said: "It is vital that homes and other buildings are as sustainable and as eco-friendly as possible. Further tough action is still needed to deliver significant energy use savings in existing homes but within a decade I want every new home to be zero-carbon.

"This country is the first to set this ambition and we look forward to our international partners matching it."

The code sets out a star rating from one to six (six being the most sustainable) which can be applied to all new homes. It will complement the system of Energy Performance Certificates which is being introduced in June 2007 as the UK implements new European legislation on energy efficiency. In the short term it will be voluntary but from April 2008 all new homes will be required to have a mandatory code rating.

The code has been developed on the back of the Building Research Establishment's EcoHomes system of rating and builds on it in a number of ways. It introduces minimum standards for energy and water efficiency at every level of the code, hence requiring high levels of sustainability performance in those areas to achieve a high code rating.

A simpler system of awarding points will be used, with the more complex weightings removed. New concepts of sustainability design, such as Lifetime homes plus the inclusion of composting facilities are also featured.

The intention is to link the code closely to Building Regulations. Minimum standards for code compliance have been set above the requirements of the Building Regulations.

Ministers have stressed that the code will signal the future direction of Building Regulations in relation to carbon emissions from, and energy use in, homes. The objective has been to provide greater regulatory certainty for the housebuilding industry.

The code takes into account: energy emissions, water use, materials, surface water run-off, waste, pollution, health and well being, management and ecology.

At present the government has given the industry a decade to produce zero-carbon homes. This would be achieved in three steps, it has proposed. The first, in 2010 would imply a 25 per cent improvement in the energy/carbon performance set in building regulations; second, in 2013, the intention is that new homes would show a 44 per cent improvement. Finally, by 2016, new homes would achieve a zero carbon rating.

This would mean that, over any 12 months, the net carbon emissions from the entire energy use in the home would be zero.

Stewart Baseley, executive chairman of the Home Builders Federation (HBF), said the industry welcomed the opportunity to "work closely with the government to determine the detail so that we can deliver the right results for all stakeholders".

Paul King, director of campaigns at WWF said: "The code is a big step in the right direction, and more importantly it sets out the further steps required over the next few years to ensure that all new homes are built to minimise environmental impacts and in particular the contribution they make to climate change."

View the Code for Sustainable Homes

View the full text of the speech by Ruth Kelly MP at the 'Towards Zero Carbon Development'

Building a Greener Future: Towards Zero Carbon Development - Consultation

Find out more about the WWF and the Code for Sustainable Homes

More information about the Home Builders Federation

Roger Milne

15 December 2006