POLICY NEWS All the latest news from around the building industry Axing Code will drive down standards, warn experts at CIBSE housing event l Gap in standards and restrictions on councils will have impact on quality of work Significant damage could be done when the Code for Sustainable Homes is scrapped, experts have warned. Industry professionals who voiced their concerns at a debate organised by CIBSE Homes for the Future Group in December said it would be difficult to promote the sustainability of new housing after the Codes removal. The government plans to replace the Code with upgrades to the Building Regulations and technical standards. Despite being voluntary, the Code has been employed by many local authorities to drive up standards on air quality, daylighting and installing renewables. Richard Hodkinson, managing director of Hodkinson Consultancy, said: Commercial pressures on organisations if theyre not constrained and dont have the regulations in place to support them in delivering high-quality homes will drive down standards because of their profitability requirements. We will still do the high-quality buildings, but weve got to accept theres a big mass market for low-cost housing. Optional regulations proposed by the government include water efficiency in areas facing shortages, and accessibility for wheelchair users. However, councils will no longer be able to impose local targets for energy efficiency, and minimum energy efficiency standards will be set through national Building Regulations. Hodkinson said the big question was how long some standards will remain unregulated. The damage done without them will be significant, he added. Hywel Davies, technical director of CIBSE, said the difficulties in providing sufficient land supply meant that sitting back and leaving it to the market was not the right way to go. He added: Theres going to be huge unintended consequences, and we need to spot them early and work out solutions. However, Simon Brown, from the Department for Communities and Local Government, said innovation was happening and not everything would come to a shuddering halt. He said research on overheating and performance was ongoing. MPs hammer government over failing Green Deal l Just 4,000 Green Deal plans have started producing negligible carbon savings The first 18 months of the Green Deal has been largely wasted, according to the House of Commons Energy and Climate Change Select Committee. A detailed report produced by the cross-party group lamented the wasted opportunity to initiate a national programme of housing energy efficiency improvements, which it put down to poor communication and flawed economics. While we continue to support the principle of the Green Deal, the government must reevaluate its approach and set out a clear strategy to revive the failing scheme, the committee said. Unless the package is made more attractive to a wider group of consumers, Green Deal finance is likely to remain unappealing to many. The committee described the Green Deal as a disappointing failure partly because a range of funding misjudgements had created frustration and confusion for consumers, and for the industry charged with delivering Green Deal projects. It recorded that just 4,000 plans had started producing negligible carbon savings. A combination of financial, communication and behavioural barriers has meant the policy has been slow to attract customers, the MPs report added. Costs associated with the Green Deal process have been repeatedly cited as prime reasons for the poor take-up of the scheme. Households that pass standard credit checks can simply obtain cheaper loans elsewhere. The committee urged the government to look for alternative financial incentives, and consider other measures and regulations in tandem with the Green Deal such as stamp duty discounts or variable council tax rates that could encourage homeowners to aim for higher energy efficiency ratings. 3,000 Hull homes to get energy measures Willmott Dixons energy services business has secured the contract to deliver energy efficiency improvements to more than 3,000 homes in Hull, under the Green Deal. Improvements under the project, which is worth up to 60 m, will include external solid-wall insulation, other forms of insulation, heating, double glazing and renewables. Tiered tariffs for biomethane Air filtration for polluted schools l Call for new guidance to prioritise air quality in planning decisions Schools, hospitals and care homes are facing a major health crisis caused by deteriorating indoor air quality, according to air quality experts advising the government. The Environmental Audit Committee has called on the government to force the installation of air filtration in all existing school buildings that are close to pollution hot spots, as deaths linked to nitrogen dioxide (NOx) and particulate pollution soar. It also wants Westminster to issue new guidance to ensure local authorities prioritise air quality in planning decisions, making sure new facilities are built away from major roads because of the health risks from diesel emissions. The committee said air pollution was now a public health crisis causing nearly as many deaths as smoking an estimated 29,000 in the UK every year. NOx is known to cause inflammation of the airways, reduce lung function, and exacerbate asthma, while particulates are linked to heart and lung diseases, as well as certain cancers. Committee chair Joan Walley said the priority was to stop a new generation of children being exposed to these risks. Traffic is responsible for 42% of carbon monoxide, 46% of nitrogen oxides and 26% of particulatematter pollution, said the committee, and the problem had become much worse because of the promotion of diesel vehicles in a bid to cut CO2 emissions. The government is to introduce tiered tariffs for biomethane subsidies after a review of the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI). Biomethane injected into the grid attracts a flat rate of 6.75p/ kWh down from 7.5p/kWh last year irrespective of installation size. However, the Department of Energy and Climate Change reviewed the policy to evaluate whether larger installations warranted a subsidy given increased economies of scale. The amount of biomethane injected into the grid has doubled every year since 2011, and is thought to have quadrupled in 2014. Solar will be subsidy free by 2020 Solar power will be a competitive energy source in Britain as early as 2020, according to the Berlin-based think tank Thema1. It concluded that solar farms, commercial, and residential rooftop installations will be economic without the need for government subsidy within the next decade, based on the comparative experiences of the German market. Two-thirds of firms unaware of ESOS Only 33% of big businesses are aware of the impending mandatory Energy Saving Opportunity Scheme (ESOS), according to a survey by carbon saving consultancy Verismic. Chancellor missed energy opportunity The infrastructure plan announced by the Chancellor in his Autumn Statement failed to promote energy efficiency, say industry observers. The UK Green Building Council claims George Osbornes failure to link stamp duty changes to energy efficiency was the mother of all missed opportunities. CIBSE technical director Hywel Davies said: The Statement said little about how we are going to improve the performance of UK buildings in order to provide better workplaces and home. The Chancellor highlighted as government priorities making power, heat and transport affordable for households and businesses; delivering energy security to support economic growth; and continuing efforts to cut carbon. Commons debates abolition of retentions The unfairness of cash retentions in the construction industry has been debated in the House of Commons for the first time. Debbie Abrahams, MP for Oldham East and Saddleworth, moved an amendment to the Small Business Bill instigated by the Specialist Engineering Contractors (SEC) Group as the latest stage in her three-year battle to reform supply-chain payment. She has proposed that the current retentions system be replaced by one under which outstanding project money is placed in trust, rather than simply being withheld from supply-chain members and retained by clients and main contractors. All large companies will have to file ESOS reports by the end of this year, but almost all of the firms surveyed said the government needed to do more to raise awareness of this new regulation. CIBSE Certification was approved to operate a register of ESOS Lead Assessors, and has already trained more than 200.