The Latest Building Regulations, Heat Pumps and Improving Your Energy Efficiency - Everything You Need To Know

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The most recent changes to the England and Wales building regulations came into force on June 15th 2022 which require that all new homes must produce 30% less carbon dioxide emissions than current standards.

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This also includes new standards to reduce energy use and carbon emissions during home improvements. It has taken some time for these regulations to begin to ‘wash through’ on actual projects as many had already begun or been improved before that date, and so only now are the regulations starting to kick in and have an effect on the design and specification for the required carbon efficiencies.

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With regards to new houses, an initial whole-house energy calculation is required, in order to see how the new target can be achieved. On the most recently tested projects, from current projects, it appears that the standard insulation and air-tightness values required before the regulations were changed will achieve the new standards with 30% less carbon dioxide emissions, purely and simply if an air source heat pump is used for whole house heating. The implication of this is an increase in capital cost of approximately £10,000, but it means that developers have a good degree of certainty of how this can be achieved on a larger housing scheme. 

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On this basis, it is no wonder that Vaillant is investing in new facilities for heat pump manufacturing in Derby, aiming to produce 600,000 air-source heat pumps annually.

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There is clearly a real carbon efficiency to up-dating your home heating system to incorporate heat pumps replacing boilers, and there are government grants available that have been actually very low on the up-take. Probably as the cost of this does not only include the cost of the heat pump, but also improvements of insulation and the existing heating system to make these systems work efficiently. The simple answer is that before considering upgrading the boiler, make sure the building is as highly insulated and air-tight as it can be, and then whatever heating system is needed beyond this will require minimal energy to keep it warm through the winter months.

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