HPF calls for radical change to building assessment

The Heat Pump Federation has expressed its support for the sentiments expressed by the RIBA-led consortium in its letter to Jeremy Pocklington, Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, regarding the Future Building Standard.

The HPF believes that ever more robust regulation, coupled with policies that deliver accessibility and affordability for decarbonising technologies, is essential and the critical nature of the global climate emergency must be reflected in the speed and decisiveness of government action. 

Bean Beanland of the Heat Pump Federation said: “Net zero carbon or zero carbon ready new buildings are only part of the problem. The UK’s historic building stock, both dwellings and commercial properties, need, if anything, treating with even greater urgency. Establishing reliable methodologies for assessing current energy demands is essential. We agree that the current tools, SBEM – Simplified Building Energy Model and SAP – Standard Assessment Procedure, and the ways that they are utilised, do not predict with accuracy, energy consumption and resulting carbon emissions. As our members frequently point out, we cannot optimise the package of interventions for any given building to get to net zero, if we do not have an accurate picture of the starting point. Anything less than optimised interventions will risk waste in cash, time, energy and carbon, which just cannot be afforded.”

“It is clear that all those with interests in the built environment are beginning to coalesce around a number of common core principles which we urge government to hear and adopt with all speed.”

RIBA consortium letter.