3 minute read
Energy efficiency
Stop chopping and changing
Martyn Bridges, director of Technical Services at Worcester Bosch, looks ahead to 2023 against the backdrop of recent political instability and the increasing emphasis on energy efficiency.
The tides are changing as we look ahead to 2023, when we will be just two years away from the introduction of regulations that effectively ban gas boilers from being fitted in new-build properties.
While this is a positive milestone on our way to achieving the necessary net zero-carbon emission targets by 2050, it does require a seismic shift for a domestic heating industry that has been dominated by the gas boiler for decades.
Whenever new Building Regulations are introduced, the key to their long-term success is having a consistent, unified front across the industry. However, the current landscape surrounding these latest changes seems to be ever changing, with new targets, policies and government figures and an ongoing inconsistency that makes the road ahead seem uncertain.
As we enter 2023, we are likely to see more and more mainstream emphasis on the need for energy saving. Even with the freeze on gas and electricity prices, our fuel bills are likely to be double those of 2021, and we are already seeing energy saving suggestions in the mainstream media that may help to lessen the immediate blow for homeowners.
The energy crisis has certainly brought about some of the highest levels of consumer concern in recent memory, and is one of the key factors contributing towards the overall cost-of-living crisis.
From a legislative perspective, we are expecting to see a consultation released soon on hydrogen-ready boilers. This is something we have been waiting on for more than a year and which has apparently gone through various rewrites to incorporate more of the overall heating system, not just hydrogen-ready boilers.
We will also see the Building Regulations changes that were introduced in 2022 start to bed in for new-build properties. Houses built according to these regulations will have a 31 per cent reduction in CO2 levels compared with a house built to the 2018 regulations, which is a drastic reduction.
It is still possible to install a gas-fired boiler in these properties, but to do so the system must be augmented with increased insulation or energy efficiency measures such as solar photovoltaic (PV) panels and wastewater heat recovery. Solar PV really is an incredible technology and, at a time when energy efficiency is so important, it is arguably unforgivable that brand new properties don’t get installed with an array of panels on the roof as standard to capture this free source of energy.
Moving goalposts
The UK government is in some turmoil and we have now had three different prime ministers in 2022. Consequently, government ministerial positions are also changing at the same rate, which doesn’t bode well for the continuity and stability of energy policy.
We have had numerous energy ministers over the past 20 years, and no one seems to remain in the position long enough to create policies that the industry can get behind or support. This has made the move towards energy efficiency and sustainability far more difficult because the industry has had to deal with often-moving goalposts.
Over the course of the coming years, we are likely to see an inevitable increase in the use of heat pumps. This should also be encouraged, although I think it unlikely that we will hit the 600,000 annual installation figure that was proposed 18 months or so ago.
However, we will certainly see an organic rise in heat pump installations, and we will probably see a significant rise when the Building Regulations change again in 2025 to make it nearly impossible to fit anything other than a heat pump in an individual property.
We are also likely to see a welcome increase in heat interface units and district heating systems in new-build domestic properties over the coming years, especially after the regulations change in 2025. ■
