Green Watch, December 2021

December 2021

Green Watch Working together for a better future

Welcome to Green Watch.

Each month, Environment and Sustainability Manager, Corrina Jones shares a round-up of stories and guidance on energy efficiency and sustainable practices.

In this month's issue: Property market New Build homes 'Green' finance EPCs Retrofitting Renewable technology Regulation and strategy 'Green' energy Climate change and action

Property market A new survey by Leaders Romans Group shows a significant majority of buyers want homes to be more energy efficient.

Features such as wall insulation, renewable energy sources and double or triple glazing were found to be a major attraction.

Two-thirds revealed they would choose a property with ecofriendly features over one without. Buyers also wanted property professionals to be more knowledgeable around eco-friendly homes and would be prepared to pay up to 10 per cent more for a property with eco-friendly features.

Further reading: Buyers want agents to become eco-experts about their ... (estateagenttoday.co.uk) Will landlords leave the private rented sector due to the cost implications of upgrading their rental properties?

The government’s plan to force landlords across the country to pay up to £10,000 to improve the energy efficiency of rental properties needs an urgent rethink, according to the National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA). The NRLA is calling on the amount that landlords should be expected to contribute to be linked to average market rents in any given area which would mean the amount a landlord would need to contribute would gradually taper from £5,000 to £10,000, considering different rental values (and by implication, property values) across the country.

Further reading: Government urged to reconsider energy improvement plans in rental homes – Property Industry Eye

New Build homes As noted, the government published its updated Building Regulations for England in December.

From June of next year, all new homes will have to produce 30% less carbon emissions then homes built today. The changes will help to improve the energy efficiency of new homes, but buyers often pay a new build premium, and the flip side of further legislation around new technologies is that the price of new build homes could rise further if developers are expected to pay for additional energy efficiency measures.

The latest measure is that from next year, new homes in England will be required by law to install electric vehicle charging points.

Further reading: New build prices may soar to cover raft of energy eff... (estateagenttoday.co.uk) And let’s not forget, there is already a price boom and newbuild premium - Analysis of government house price data by Unlatch has revealed that the property price premium paid by new-build homebuyers has increased by 10.8% in the last year, with these homes now commanding 40.2% more than existing properties.

'Green' finance Green mortgages are on a roll.

Around a quarter of mortgage lenders currently have ‘green’ products promoting improved EPCs - and the majority of the remaining lenders say they have similar mortgages are on their way.

Further reading: Average new-build sees price premium of 40% - Mortgage Introducer

Further reading: Green Mortgages linked to EPC ratings set to soar in ... (estateagenttoday.co.uk)

And Oxford City Council is going above and beyond….

Green mortgages may potentially reduce monthly mortgage payments based on how ecofriendly a property might be. Lenders are also starting to work savings in energy bills into affordability calculations based on buying more energy efficient homes. And as awareness among consumers grows we could start to see EPC ratings really start to impact on property values. Watch this space!

Council-owned Oxford City Housing has revealed the firms it has picked to help it build more than 2,000 low-carbon homes across Oxfordshire over the next decade. The council’s housing company said wants to either achieve 40% carbon reduction from the Future Buildings Standard or build to Passivehaus standards.

Further reading: Winners named for £1bn sustainable housing framework | News | Building

EPCs More than half (52%) of landlords with properties that require improvements to upgrade their energy efficiency ratings with incoming regulations have considered selling, according to a new report.

Further reading: Landlords consider selling properties over proposed changes to EPC rules – Property Industry Eye The government is proposing that from 2025, a domestic rental property cannot be rented out on a new tenancy if the properties EPC rating is below a C – this will be phased in for all existing properties after 2028. The government is also proposing to increase the landlord contribution for improvements to increase to £10,000 before an exemption can be applied for.

Landlords will need to review their insulation in walls, floors, and windows, as well as potentially install new, more energy-efficient boilers. Once the £10,000 cap has been hit, the LL can register for an exemption. There is a concern that unless LL’s act soon, many properties could be rendered un-mortgageable as buy to let properties.

Some owners will need support from both lenders, and the government, to make these changes financially possible.

“Without this, we risk a substantial part of the private rental sector becoming unrentable and therefore unmortgageable and unsellable in 2025. With home ownership still out of reach for many this could leave us with a shortage of quality homes to rent.” The latest warning comes from John Eastgate, property finance managing director at Shawbrook Bank, who comments: “For many property owners in the UK, getting their property to a C rating is going to take a lot more than simply installing a new boiler. Positively, tenants were also happy to pay more in rent should landlords make certain changes to their property.

Further reading: EPC Crisis: Properties could be “unsellable and unr... (landlordtoday.co.uk) In line with the governments aspirations to drive improvements in EPC ratings the Building regulations are changing. The government has published updated Building Regulations Part L1A (Conservation of Fuel and Power) which will be effective from June 2022. Some of the main points are that all homes built from June 2022 will need to produce 30% less carbon emissions than the homes built today.

Also, an entirely new Building Regulation and Approved Document O has been set up to mitigate the risk of overheating in new homes which includes a maximum limit to the amount of glazing on new residential buildings.

A transition period will now commence until June 2022, when the new regulations will come into effect, which is designed to allow for planning applications that are currently in progress.

SAP software will also have a partial update alongside the building regs and to meet standards, houses will have to meet three performance metrics, a primary energy target, CO2 emissions target and minimum standards for fabric and fixed building services. The update is paving the way for the introduction of the Future Homes Standard in 2025 as part of the governments drive for all new homes to be net zero ready post 2025.

The government also published Approved Document S, which provides technical guidance regarding the installation of electric car charge points in homes.

Further reading: Overheating: Approved Document O (publishing.service.gov.uk) Approved Document L, Conservation of fuel and power, Volume 1: Dwellings (publishing.service.gov.uk)

Retrofitting There is cross-party support for stronger government policy and increased funding for renewable heating technologies for new and existing homes to help the UK hit net zero targets.

A YouGov survey of 100 Labour and Conservative MPs found more than half, 56 per cent, believed the government must make it a priority for the UK’s 29 million existing homes to have a green energy retrofit.

Further reading: MPs support renewable home heating ‘revolution’ (msn.com) And renewables are also growing on homeowners with support for renewable technology at a record high of 87%, according to the survey. The survey reveals that eight in ten people were supportive of solar energy projects, almost 84% of people support offshore wind 80% onshore wind and 85% wave and tidal energy.

Further reading: BEIS Public Attitudes Tracker: Autumn 2021 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) So why do we Still Not Have a National Retrofit Strategy?

It feels crazy to be in a position that a national retrofit strategy isn’t in place and working at full capacity, says Paul Testa Why do we Still Not Have a National Retrofit Strategy? | Homebuilding. There has never been a greater need for a national retrofit strategy.

The Government has acknowledged the importance of retrofitting existing homes if the UK has any happy hope of meeting its net zero targets. Buildings are responsible for about 30% of primary energy use in the UK and nearly half of all carbon emissions, according to the Climate Change Committee and at least 80% of the buildings that exist now will still be in use in 2050 and many of those buildings run on fossil fuels and are poorly insulated. There is an urgent need to reduce the energy demand of our homes and the scale of the challenge is huge. And without government legislation or a national strategy, the pace of change may struggle to gain any real momentum. The construction industry needs to scale up to upskill the tradesman to deliver the retrofits but without certainty that the demand is there they are reticent to invest in the training and infrastructure needed to deliver retrofits at scale.

If the government made a clear policy statement and delivered a national strategy for retrofitting which included a clear funding pathway, it would turbo charge the industry and present a clear pathway to achieving the goal of decarbonising the UKs housing stock.

The government’s disastrous green homes grant “underperformed badly” and has “damaged confidence” in its ability to deliver future net zero plans, the Public Accounts Committee has said. The grant, which was originally regarded as a key part of the government’s green plans, but it only delivered a small fraction of the retrofits expected before being cancelled six months after its launch. The scheme’s design was overly complex and did not sufficiently address the needs of consumers and installers.

Further reading: Audit MPs scathing over green homes grant | News | Housing Today And in Wales, the Warm Homes Programme has helped many households by providing them with free energy efficiency measures. However, with the current Programme is coming to an end over the next two years, the Welsh Government has key strategic decisions to make over its future.

Further reading: Warm Homes Programme Needs to be Greener, Clearer and More Tightly Managed Business News Wales

Do you know what a heat network is? Heat networks form an important part of the government’s plan to reduce carbon and cut heating bills for customers.

Further reading: Heat networks - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Renewable technology The government is encouraging all homeowners to think about replacing their boilers with heat pumps, but are they suitable for all homes?

Yes! According to government research, heat pumps are suitable for all property types and architectural eras. The Electrification of Heat (EoH) project, funded by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), successfully installed heat pumps in Victorian mid-terrace homes to pre-WWII semi-detached houses, as well as a 1960s block of flats. “The project has not identified any particular type or age of property that cannot have a successful heat pump installation,” the group said.

Further reading: Heat Pumps Suitable for All Types of Homes, New Project Finds | Homebuilding So what is new out there…have you heard of Solar Glass Windows? A solar window with photovoltaic glazing is an emerging solar technology which could enable homes to generate their own renewable electricity through the windows or structure of their home, not just from panels on the roof. The reason why we are not all installing solar windows now, is that at the moment the photovoltaic glass being produced is not transparent so would be ineffective as a straight replacement for window glass but manufacturers are working on it!

Further reading: What are Solar Glass Windows? | Solar Guide UK energy technology company, Heat Wayv, is claiming a world-first with its new innovation, a microwave boiler that offers a zero-emissions replacement for gas boilers.

They are expected to be available before 2025, when gas boilers are set to be banned from new build homes.

Further reading: Microwave boilers on their way (phamnews.co.uk)

A heat network – sometimes called district heating – is a distribution system of insulated pipes that takes heat from a central source and delivers it to a number of domestic or nondomestic buildings and can increase energy efficiency considerably.

'Green' energy The UK Government is prioritising trying to decarbonise our energy sources and has announced a huge investment into Scottish tidal power.

The UK Government will ensure that £20million per year will be ringfenced for Tidal Stream projects. The UK has the largest tidal stream deployment in the world, so much so that almost 50% of the world’s installed tidal stream capacity is in Scottish waters. Tidal energy has the potential to be a very reliable source of generation, given the clockwork predictability of the tides.

Further reading: UK Government announces huge investment into Scottish tidal power GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) Is the reality of a Hydrogen economy getting closer? It could be in Wales. Milford Haven has staked a claim to be at the forefront of the Net Zero transition. The most comprehensive picture to date on how to create a hydrogen economy, has been set out in a report for Milford Haven in Wales – the UK’s largest energy port to enable hydrogen to form an integrated part of a smart local energy system.

Further reading: Milford Haven Harbours Designs to Develop First UK Hydrogen Economy Business News Wales And RWE, one of the world’s leading global renewable companies, has announced the signing of a contract with professional services firm Jacobs to investigate the production and supply of green hydrogen at the Pembroke Power Station site Wales by installing a 100 megawatt (MW) electrolyser to produce green hydrogen from local and grid connected renewable energy

Climate change In the UK, a Government survey reveals nearly 85% of Brits are concerned about climate change and in Autumn 2021, almost nine in ten people (87%) said they had some awareness of the concept of Net Zero.

Government regulation and strategy The government launched a new consultation to look at how companies can clean up their supply chains. The consultation is looking at how to implement new measures in the Environment Act. Further reading: Implementing due diligence on forest risk commodities - Defra - Citizen Space Plans to Clean up the UK’s Supply Chains to Help Protect Forests - Business News Wales The Scottish Government has announced record funding to deliver a just transition to net zero.

Scotland’s Budget will deliver record levels of investment in tackling the climate emergency – helping to protect and restore the natural environment, and slash emissions from homes, industries and transport.

The 2022-23 budget provides more than £2 billion for measures that will accelerate a just transition to net zero and a Scotland which leads the way in ending climate change. £336 million will be invested in energy efficiency and low carbon and renewable heat to deliver warmer, greener homes.

Further reading: Scottish budget 2022-23: At a glance - BBC News

This is the highest percentage to date and indicates the growing awareness of climate risk amongst the public.

Further reading: BEIS Public Attitudes Tracker: Autumn 2021 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

However, the UK is "nowhere near" meeting emissions targets enshrined at the Glasgow climate summit, official advisers have warned. The Climate Change Committee (CCC) says that, at current rates, the UK will be contributing to a disastrous temperature rise of 2.7C by 2100.

It says this could - in theory - be brought down to just under 2C if we all take action now.

But this could only happen if ministers agree tougher policies, and if other nations slash emissions too.

Further reading: COP26: UK 'nowhere near' meeting targets agreed at Glasgow climate summit BBC News And the highest temperature ever recorded in the Arctic, 38C (100F), has been officially confirmed, sounding "alarm bells" over Earth's changing climate.

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) on Tuesday verified the record, reported in the Siberian town of Verkhoyansk on 20 June last year. The temperature was 18C higher than the area's average daily maximum for June.

Climate action Sadly, we may all need to consider getting rid of our wood burners.

Wood burning stoves in urban areas are responsible for almost half of people’s exposure to cancercausing chemicals found in air pollution particles, new research has shown.

Further reading: Wood burners cause nearly half of urban air pollution cancer risk – study | Air pollution | The Guardian And don’t forget biomass!

Innovative biomass projects across the UK can bid for a share of £26 million as the government ramps up plans to boost the use of materials such as grasses, hemp and seaweed to help the UK reach net zero. Biomass refers to sustainably derived plant material that could be used as fuel to produce energy for heating and powering homes and businesses. The chosen projects will drive biomass productivity in the UK through the breeding, planting, cultivating and harvesting of organic matter; from water-based materials such as algae, to whole trees through sustainable forestry operations.

Further reading: £26 million government funding to boost biomass in UK - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Further discussions We welcome the opportunity to discuss with you the challenges you are facing and explore the ways in which we could support you to overcome them.

If you would like to arrange a meeting to discuss any of the indicatives featured in this update, please email Corrina Jones at corrina.jones@esurv.co.uk.