What next?

So, what are the main stepping stones over the next few years that will affect sustainable buildings and communities?

The requirement for all buildings being newly let or renewed after 1 April 2018 to have an EPC of ‘E’ rating or above (and for existing tenancies from 1 April 2020) has already led to opportunities for advising landlords and sub-letting occupiers on possible refurbishments. Yet the withdrawal of the Code for Sustainable Homes (CSH) and introduction of voluntary local building regulations seems to go against the previous stance of homogenising standards across the UK, yet it is in line with the government’s localism agenda. As such, it will offer local authorities the ability to control sustainability measures for new homes and commercial properties in their own region.

However, this could be a minefield for developers and designers who would need different designs for every local authority, along with uncertainty over what each local authority will accept. Will the lowering of the sustainable measures needed in new housing help push the number of new homes closer to the 250,000 annual target the government and the majority of commentators believe is required? Or will our future generations resent us for backtracking on building sustainable houses across the UK and increasing their energy bills for the lifespan of their home?

The Green Investment Bank and the Green Deal have faced difficulties. With the removal of the Green Deal in July 2015, there are now fewer opportunities for the public to access funds for improving the carbon emissions of existing homes. Similarly, feed-in-tariffs have been reduced considerably for larger schemes, affecting their viability, as well as the investment and jobs that are being put into this technology in the UK. That said, the capital cost has come down, at least partly offsetting the reduction in FITs. The renewable heat incentive scheme has, however, survived, offering some crumbs of comfort for sustainably-minded homeowners and occupiers of smaller commercial properties.

The last few years has seen the growth of batteries and capacitors, and their use not just in cars but as small-scale plant in buildings, as a way of bridging the supply/demand gap for locally-produced or on-site renewable energy generation in buildings. Batteries could help store that renewable energy to enable electric cars, vans and lorries to be re-charged on site and provide power to a building when it is needed rather than just when it is produced. This will also help overcome the additional power demand for developments, that will come from increasing numbers of electric cars and delivery vehicles.

So, with a gradual upturn in the economy over the last few years and no real uptick in the green agenda from the 2017-elected government, it will be up to local planning authorities, occupiers and investors to drive the sustainability agenda and improve our building stock. Any future political or economic uncertainty could also encourage the government to ‘improve’ the UK’s competitiveness by reducing short-term capital costs at the expense of long-term revenue expenditure and long-term carbon reduction strategies. With President Donald Trump likely to pull out of the Paris Agreement and encouraging more coal burning in the US, it is likely to be two steps forward and one step back on the path towards a more sustainable world. Yet all routes will still need to be considered and professional advice given about how to deal with today’s requirements and anticipated future trends and obligations – challenges that chartered surveyors are more than capable of rising to.