Requirement to improve energy efficiency dropped from draft Building Regulations consultation

Once again, the Government has failed to make the most of an ideal opportunity to improve the energy efficiency of the UK’s existing housing stock.  The draft consultation on the 2010 update to Parts L (Conservation of Fuel and Power) and F (Means of Ventilation) of the Building Regulations was launched on 18th June.  In this document, the Government shies away from requiring homeowners to make ‘consequential improvements’ to their home when they renovate or extend the main building.   Consequential improvements are defined as energy efficiency improvements made to the fabric of the original building when other renovation or extension work is taking place.

The perfect time to carry out energy efficiency improvement work is when buildings are renovated or extended, as the marginal extra cost and disruption associated with making these improvements can be minimised.  Part L currently requires consequential improvements to be carried out in non-domestic buildings with a useful floor area of over 1,000m2 wherever this is economically and technically feasible – as specified in the EU’s Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD).  This size limit means 72% of the EU’s existing building stock is currently excluded from these requirements.  Proposed updates to the EPBD, agreed in November 2008, will therefore remove the size criteria from 2011, requiring Member States to introduce legislation covering all types and sizes of existing building.

In the UK it is expected that around 70% of the buildings that will exist in 2050 have already been built.  For the UK Government to continue to comply with EU legislation and meet its own carbon reduction targets (80% on 2005 levels by 2050 and 34% by 2020) it is imperative that it take every action to improve the energy efficiency of the existing housing stock.  This latest step, however, suggests our current politicians lack the will to do so.