How Green is Your Project?

Against a backdrop of climate change, the rules governing the building and refurbishment of homes are changing. In the first of two features, we set out what interior designers need to know

Architects and interior designers are used to pushing the boundaries of our living spaces while working with in the constraints of rules and regulations. While the style of our homes has often been dictated by the fashions of the day, regulations have guided how they should be built and designed based on concerns for the health and safety, welfare and convenience of the people in and around them. But the rules are changing; it is no longer possible to just consider the needs and wants of the homeowner and their neighbours and communities when creating new dwellings or extending and refurbishing old stock. Against a backdrop of climate change, energy security and the need for more housing, government policy is now squarely focused on improving the sustainability of the built environment.

Changes to building regulations are already mandating improvements in energy and water efficiency, while Energy Performance Certificates, which rate a home from A to G according to its energy efficiency and environmental performance, are there to drive sustainability in the refurbishment of existing buildings.

But it doesn’t stop there. The coalition government has pledged to make all new homes zero carbon by 2016 and will introduce an energy bill later this year, a key element of which will be a ‘Green Deal’. This will deliver a framework to improve the energy efficiency of homes (and businesses), including potential incentives to energy suppliers and households to invest in energy-efficiency measures, such as insulation and renewable technologies.

The Green Deal is not expected to come into effect until the end of 2012 but it is likely to act as a major catalyst for green home refurbishment, as will the expected (but not yet confirmed) launch of the Renewable Heat Incentive in April 2011. The recently launched Feed-In Tariff, meanwhile, is already giving financial rewards to homeowners who generate their own electricity.

Addressing the greenhouse gas emissions produced by the UK’s existing housing stock is regarded as critical to meeting the tough carbon budgets set out under the Climate Change Act 2008. Britain has set itself on a path to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 34 per cent on 1990 levels by 2020 and by 80 per cent on those levels by 2050.

Home refurbishment

According to the Building Research Establishment, the UK has the oldest housing stock in the developed world (one in five British homes was built before 1918) and at least 80 per cent of today’s homes will still be standing in 2050.When you consider the carbon emissions for which UK homes are responsible — 27 per cent of the country’s total emissions — it becomes clear that this represents a challenging but enormous refurbishment opportunity for businesses and homeowners.

Recognising this, the Building Research Establishment is developing a new standard — BREEAM Domestic Refurbishment — to ensure sustainability is maximised when existing UK housing stock is refurbished.

The BREEAM Domestic Refurbishment standard will provide a single standard by which to assess the performance of housing refurbishments against environmental objectives, such as minimising energy, waste and water consumption as well as using environmentally sensitive materials.

The standard is being tested in a pilot involving more than 350 properties in a range of styles before being launched later this year.

Gavin Summerson, the project manager of the pilot scheme, says the aim is to ensure the standard is pitched at an appropriate level for all existing housing while, at the same time, delivering key sustainability objectives. ‘We are looking at the difficulties of applying the standard to different types of property so we have come up with something that is realistic and simple in its approach,’ he says.

Meanwhile, the Building Research Establishment is leading another sustainable refurbishment project, the Centre of Refurbishment Excellence (CoRE), which is due to open in Stoke-on-Trent in September. Part of Rethinking Housing Refurbishment, a major industry-led programme that aims to raise standards of practice in home and nondomestic refurbishments, the centre will be based in a disused former pottery and will act as a retrofit ‘living demonstrator’.

But while the onus is placed upon the sustainable retrofitting of existing homes, it will act as the carrot rather than the stick in terms of driving change. There are no plans for the BREEAM Domestic Refurbishment standard to be made mandatory, while energy and water efficiency Building Regulations only apply when there is ‘a material change of use’ to an existing property.

John Alker of the UK Green Building Council believes the lack of regulation surrounding eco retrofitting is down to ‘a political wariness to intervene in people’s homes’ — a position that is likely to strengthen under the coalition government, he says. ‘Under the previous government, you might have seen new rules in 10 years’ time saying that you could not sell or rent a home that was F or G rated [under the Energy Performance Certificate] unless it was upgraded to E. But it is highly unlikely that this particular government is going to make people upgrade their homes,’ says Alker.

New homes

The regulations governing new builds are getting tougher, however. At the time of writing, the government had yet to announce the definition of a zero-carbon home but housing minister Grant Shapps confirmed in May that he was committed to the zero- carbon target by 2016.At present, all new homes have to achieve at least an A rating against an Energy Performance Certificate and have to meet Part L (for energy efficiency) and Part G (for water efficiency) of the Building Regulations.

It is also mandatory for all new homes to be rated against the Code for Sustainable Homes, the government’s national standard for new housing, although it is only required of housing funded under the Homes and Communities Agency to meet a minimum of code Level 3. The code incorporates all key government sustainability targets into one standard, measuring sustainability against categories such as energy and carbon dioxide emissions, water consumption, materials, surface water run-off, waste, pollution, health and wellbeing, management and ecology. Level 1 represents a modest improvement on the minimum regulatory standards and Level 6 is a zero-carbon home with an exemplary level of sustainability performance.

A ‘nil rating’ against the Code for Sustainable Homes is acceptable and shows the home has only been designed to meet the current Building Regulations.

The Building Research Establishment says more than 10,000 code certificates have been issued at both the design and post-construction stage since the code came into operation in April 2007 — most of these within the past 12 months.

A consultation on the code was launched by the Labour government last December, partly to seek views on how it would align with the changes to Part L of the Building Regulations and partly to consult on the 2016 definition of zero carbon and whether this should be introduced into the regulations at an intermediate level from 2013.

According to Alker, the definition of the zero-carbon home is the key to how any future regulations pan out. ‘The definition is going to be all about what you need to achieve in terms of carbon mitigation — both in the fabric and energy efficiency of the envelope through to renewables on site and near the site. What is still up for grabs is the list of other things that you will be able to invest in that will bring you up to a final zero-carbon total,’ he says. That list could include sourcing renewable energy from a community infrastructure project, for example, but, in theory, Alker says it could also include ‘putting money in a pot for offshore wind development’.

Healthy homes

While cutting carbon emissions will remain the driving force for the change in Britain’s building rules and regulations, other ecological issues could start playing a more important role as homes become more energy efficient.

According to Anna Whitehead, an interior designer advising the British Institute of Interior Designers on green building issues, a sustainable home should not be just about sealing a building but about a healthy interior environment. ‘In sealed buildings, the indoor air quality and materials and resources — including floors, carpets and ceilings — become even more critical,’ she says.

Whitehead has just completed the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), an internationally recognized green building design certification system developed by the US Green Building Council. She says the focus in the UK is still too much on energy efficiency. ‘Sustainable design is about looking at the site selection and orientation of a building, water and resource efficiency as well as energy efficiency and indoor air-quality management,’ she says. ‘It links with what we put in our buildings. Materials such as vinyl flooring give off gases. These sorts of issues become much more important in sealed buildings.’

Alker agrees that more needs to be done in the future to understand the impact of well designed healthy living spaces. ‘Issues surrounding the toxicity of products and materials are an interesting part of the green debate but they are not particularly well understood or well charted yet,’ he says. ‘But they will become so.’

Wind of Change

The government later this year will introduce an energy bill offering incentives for households to invest in renewable technology such as offshore turbines

Safe as Houses

The Natural House, developed by members of the Good Homes Alliance, is a showpiece of eco design

Fit for Purpose

The Building Research Establishment is developing a standard to ensure sustainability is maximised when old buildings are refurbished

Raise the Roof

Solar panels help boost a building’s green credentials

Political Awareness

John Alker of the UK Green Building Council says it is unlikely the government will force people by law to upgrade their homes

Clear Thinking

Gavin Summerson, project manager of the BREEAM Domestic Refurbishment standard, thinks the scheme is ‘realistic and simple’

Healthy Balance

Interior designer Anna Whitehead focuses on creating healthy interior environments

Zero Tolerance

Housing minister Grant Shapps has yet to announce the official definition of the zero-carbon home


This article was first published in IDFX Magazine.









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