Decarbonising the Built Environment

View the briefing paper

Opportunities to meet and surpass the Future Homes Standard.

An REA briefing to align the construction and energy sectors to reach our net zero target.

Despite the transition to the low carbon energy system being well underway, just 1% of new homes built in 2018 were rated EPC band A (Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government, 2019). Strong progress has been made in decarbonising the power sector, although it is now clear that the buildings sector lags behind.  Cross-sector collaboration between the construction and energy industries, and immediate action, is imperative to meeting our newly adopted net zero GHG emissions target by 2050.

This briefing calls for six key policy implementations which are crucial as a baseline for all new buildings:

1. Solar PV Roofing mandated as minimum standards
2. All new buildings to be smart electric vehicle charge point “ready”
3. Energy Storage mandated in all new buildings or developments
4. Three-Phase electricity supply as standard
5. Renewables and Clean Tech to be fairly acknowledged in Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) and the Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP)
6. Renewable heat as standard in all new developments