Mainstream zero carbon homes 'may never happen'

Industry experts have warned that delivering mainstream zero carbon homes will not happen until ministers agree an acceptable definition and even then a range of other factors will still need to fall into place.

A panel discussion hosted by Building at the Ecobuild conference on Wednesday heard that challenges for zero carbon homes include rates for carbon offsetting “allowable solutions” and final detail of Part L building regulations that standard homes must be built to.

Mark Farmer, head of residential at consultant EC Harris, said there had been a “cross-party political failure” to give enough clarity on technical specifications and carbon-reduction expectations, coupled with a reluctance to jeopardise the delivery of new homes by imposing too many requirements. “Will the mainstream zero-carbon home ever happen? No. I don’t think it will,” he said.

Farmer added that the industry also lacked the capacity to upscale housebuilding to a target level of 240,000 new homes a year and deliver those properties to new, more exacting standards.

Barny Evans, sustainability and energy consultant at WSP, said there was also a mismatch between cost-effectiveness and the notion of truly zero carbon homes,

“You can have low-carbon homes that are costly to run,” he said. “We need to focus on delivering good homes that are low carbon.”

Rory Bergin, partner at HTA Design, said ways of establishing the extra worth of properly functioning low-carbon homes would be crucial to make their construction viable. “We need to actively involve new mortgage lenders,” he said.

“At the moment some firms don’t want to build zero carbon homes because they can’t sell them for more money.”

Debbie Alpin, managing director at Crest Nicholson Regeneration added that mortgage lenders also saw zero carbon homes as high-risk because of the technology involved, while customers were “very nervous”.