No More Gas Boilers To Be Fitted To New Builds After 2016?

[nickso]

This has been coming along for a long time and it's also for oil not just gas code 4 for new build is already in place, which is the need for some sort of renewable on a house so big so code 6 is complete carbon neutral which is for 2016 anybody in the sector we deal in will be left behind if they don't invest in renewables now, had a chap that wasn't allowed to fit a system to a new build last year without either solar water or electric! So he left the front of the house and extended instead and swallowed the VAT.

pardon?


what's the big deal, just build a house with no heating but a gas hob. then fit a boiler a week after it's finished.

From what we were told last year there will be no gas fitted to the properties though it wasn't clear when nat. grid could provide a metered supply.

Who told you that? BG? This is all news to me, not that I'm remotely worried. As Micky pointed out it's probably going to make little impact on us senior gents and I doubt i will see my days out at BG anyway.

 

[ianniann]

"Zero Carbon" is a joke. The government's own guidance document gives an example of a zero carbon (level 6) home using a "high efficiency condensing boiler". The most trivial example would be a gas boiler and solar panels on the roof, equals zero carbon provided the energy output from the panels is considered to offset the gas burnt. A more practical example would be a wood burning CHW system on a new housing development. So now you burn gas and you burn wood, which adds up to zero carbon. NOT!!! Perhaps the trees in my garden count for offsetting?

The rating is actually calculated on a points basis and covers far more than simple energy usage within the home. Water usage is a big part, drainage, materials sourcing, waste. There are also some mandatory minimum requirements, for example maximum total water usage and a certain percentage of the water supply must come from "non-potable" water, ie rainwater for flushing toilets.

 

[mickyg]

As Micky pointed out it's probably going to make little impact on us senior gents and I doubt i will see my days out at BG anyway.

speak for yourself ! Im only 30

 

[nickso]

As Micky pointed out it's probably going to make little impact on us senior gents and I doubt i will see my days out at BG anyway.

speak for yourself ! Im only 30

I didn't mean old necessarily, I'm not much older, I meant anyone who isn't just starting out really.

 

[adlplumbing]

so it could be lpg retro fit after

 

[Whitespirit66]

This situation typifies how useless and out of touch politicians are. At a time when house building has slumped to 1920s levels, hardly any social housing being built, and massive demand for new homes from an ever increasing population, our government has it's mind on other things.

Rather than messing about with rainwater harvesting, etc, trying to impress the EU, and demonstrating their caring, sharing green image, they should just get on with building some bloody houses.

 

[OwainDIYer]

... a certain percentage of the water supply must come from "non-potable" water, ie rainwater for flushing toilets.

Which is all very well if you live in a bungalow with a large roof area.

If you live in a block of flats, from where do you harvest that water and where do you store it?

Is there a rota for flushing the lavvy, like many flats have for sharing the communal drying lines?

Of course it saves the gas companies installing new/larger mains and it saves the water companies installing new/larger mains.

 

[ongas]

A friend who used to be in the industry told me that from 2016, new legislation will mean that new houses have to have ch from alternative/green energy. No more gas boilers.

Is this true?

What will they use for hw and ch?

Is the technology advanced enough yet?

Won't it be much more expensive to install?

Its 100% True due to the code for suistanable homes.

Applies to new builds only.

Ongas

 

[ianniann]

... a certain percentage of the water supply must come from "non-potable" water, ie rainwater for flushing toilets.

Which is all very well if you live in a bungalow with a large roof area.

If you live in a block of flats, from where do you harvest that water and where do you store it?

Is there a rota for flushing the lavvy, like many flats have for sharing the communal drying lines?

Of course it saves the gas companies installing new/larger mains and it saves the water companies installing new/larger mains.

The requirement is not strictly mandatory, but the limits for "design" daily water use per person are so low that it is virtually impossible to achieve without using non-potable water. The planning portal level 6 example gives 30% non-potable water, and that already includes a "smaller, shaped bath" and a 6-9l/min shower.

There's a lot of stuff in the code that has nothing to do with energy use. For example surface drainage must be limited, and in many cases will not be allowed to exceed the levels before development. That means soakways or collecting rainwater, possibly both since peak runoff levels are also limited so you can't just collect some and then dump the excess down the drain when there is a thunderstorm.

There are requirements for dedicated cycle storage space, micro-management of energy saving light fittings, "responsible sourcing" of materials, and all sorts of other bits and pieces to reach the total points needed for the standard.