SPONSOR CPD PROGRAMME Continuing professional development (CPD) is the regular maintenance, improvement and broadening of your knowledge and skills, to maintain professional competence. It is a requirement of CIBSE and other professional bodies. This Journal CPD programme can be used to meet your CPD requirements. Study the module and answer the questions on the final page. Each successfully completed module is equivalent to 1.5 hours of CPD. Modules are also available at www.cibsejournal.com/cpd Future homes standards for a net-zero future This module explores the proposed revisions to regulations relating to environmental performance of domestic buildings This CPD will consider the drivers for the proposed 2020 revisions to regulations governing the environmental performance of homes. This article principally considers areas that are associated with the thermal building regulations. Under the terms of the 2016 Paris Agreement,1 the majority of world states that are responsible for almost 97% of global greenhouse gas emissions agreed to become net-zero emissions economies by the end of this century, setting a 2050 target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 80% below 1990 levels. This was based on the goal to limit global warming to well below 2K above pre-industrial levels by the end of this century a limit that had gained popularity following economic modelling reaching back 40 years by 2018 Nobel economic science prize winner William D Nordhaus. The UK, responsible for about 1.55% of global emissions, had already set a target of 80% emissions reduction in the Climate Change Act 2008, and this was the driving force behind compliance targets within the built environment. Subsequent international research on the impact of climate change confirmed that small island states and low-lying countries would be inundated with sea water as higher temperatures caused more ice to melt and the seas to expand. Preventing global temperatures from rising beyond 1.5K would significantly improve their outlook. The IPCC Special Report on 1.5oC,2 released in December 2018, effectively confirmed that the target must be a much more demanding 1.5K. As a result, the UK Climate Change Act was amended in June 2019 so that the net UK carbon account for the year 2050 is set to be at least 100% lower than the 1990 baseline. To determine how the UK can achieve this target, the UK government, in conjunction with the Scottish and Welsh Governments, commissioned research into what measures will be required to contribute to net-zero homes by 2050. The results showed that for the UK to achieve the new goal, many of the solutions cut across the multitude of contributing systems, and that fully integrated policy, regulatory design and implementation is crucial.3 Each government is looking to update the Building Regulations to set stricter compliance targets on the construction industry. Homes account for 20% of greenhouse gas emissions in the UK,4 and this has provided the focus for the first set of consultations on future building performance legislation. The UK governments first-stage consultation on the path to develop the England Future Homes Standard closed in February 2020, and principally focused on updates to Approved Documents Part L (Thermal) and Part F (Ventilation) of the Building Regulations for new residential developments. These are intended to encourage market and supply chain development, while representing a significant improvement on 2013 compliance. The consultation on the England Future Homes Standard presents a view of how government envisages residential buildings in 2025, and shares technical foundations with the Welsh Governments near concurrent consultation on the Approved Documents Part L and Part F of the Building Regulations in Wales. The 2020 revisions to Part L and Part F are www.cibsejournal.com May 2020 59 CIBSE May 20 pp59-62 CPD Glen Dimplex 161 v2.indd 59 24/04/2020 16:41