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12/05/2015 True cost of sustainable homes | Magazine Features | Building
http://www.building.co.uk/analysis/features/truecostofsustainablehomes/5074632.article 1/6
Tuesday12 May 2015
SPONSORED CONTENT
True cost of sustainable homes9 April 2015 | By David Blackman
The private and public housing sectors face unprecedented levels of demand for homes people can actually afford, but there is also pressure for new homes to meethigher energy efficiency standards, which comes at a cost. Our roundtable of housing experts gathered to discuss how housebuilders can build sustainably andcheaply
The economy may be back in expansion mode, but budgets are still a lot tighter than in the mid noughties, when the plan to decarbonise the built environment washatched. Building recently organised a round table debate, pulling together some of the industry’s leading experts, to explore how sustainable housing can be deliveredmore cheaply.
Sponsored by the Joseph RowntreeFoundation
The starting point for the debate was recently published research carried out by James Morgan of Heriot Watt University on behalf of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation(JRF), which sponsored the debate.
The Building Sustainable Homes research showed that building to the 2016 zero carbon energy standard added up to 12.9% onto build costs. By contrast a mix ofsimple fabric measures combined with photovoltaic panels would boost construction costs by no more than a relatively modest 4%, the research found.
We want to help people to reduce fuel poverty because we care about our residents. Also the more income our residents receive, the more likely theywill pay the rent, so we have an interest too
Kerry Heath, Hexagon Housing Association
It’s an issue close to the heart of the JRF, explained John Hocking, the executive director of the Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust (JRFT) the charity’s housing trustarm. In addition to its role as the UK’s leading social research charity, Hocking said the JRFT is also a social landlord in its own right. While much of its housing stockdates back to its Victorian roots, over the past decade it has been developing a new urban extension to York where its headquarters is located.
Kerry Heath, development and regeneration
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director of Hexagon Housing Association, saidregistered social landlords had a mix of motivesfor building to higher sustainability standards. Shesaid: “We want to help people to reduce fuelpoverty because we care about our residents. Alsothe more income our residents receive, the morelikely they will pay the rent, so we have an interesttoo.”
Ben Derbyshire, managing partner at HTA Design,said that another study, carried out by the HousingForum in association with BLP Insurance, showedthat highly sustainable homes are also veryexpensive to maintain.
The JRF research also showed that consumershave yet to be convinced that the energy savings,which sustainable housing delivers, justify payingmore for low carbon homes. As a result, there islittle premium for sustainable homes.
Until that’s the case, according to David Adams,technical director at Willmott Dixon, any additionalcost will encounter resistance from contractors.
Aiming for zero carbon
Housebuilders have of course recently been giventhe option of avoiding the full 2016 standard by using measures to offset the carbon emissions generated by dwellings.Builders can build on site to the equivalent of Level 5 of the Code for Sustainable or meet their sustainability goals bybuilding to the equivalent of Code Level 4 and then compensating for the additional carbon emissions by so called“allowable solutions”, such as paying for existing homes to be insulated or building windfarms.
Morgan said that the JRF research showed that making use of these offsite measures was more cost effective than building to a higher standard onsite.
He said: “The carbon price would have to be £300 per tonne to make it economically attractive to build to Passivhaus standard. Even at £90 per tonne it’s pretty muchalways cheaper to use allowable solutions than to build on site. At £36 per tonne it’s even cheaper.”
When we see tender documents we are always asked about things like costs, delivery and aesthetics. We have never been asked any really goodquestions about ensuring that the home performs
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David Adams, Willmott Dixon
Morgan added that from a broader socialperspective it made even greater sense to opt forallowable solutions. On current housingconstruction rates of 150,000 a year, he said itcould raise £200m500m, which could be used toinsulate up to 80,000 homes. He suggested thatthe environment could benefit by going down thisroute rather than making already highly sustainablehomes “a bit” greener. However, he noted concernthat innovation in new housing may be stifled ifthere is no impetus to build beyond currentsustainability levels.
Rob Pannell, managing director of the Zero CarbonHub, said that the allowable solutions deployedhad to be as cost effective as possible.
“If we are doing more offsite allowable solutions, Iwould upgrade existing stock rather than plant1,000 trees or build a windmill.”
Tony Burton, executive chair of SustainableHomes backed this approach: “If we are seriousabout climate change, we have got toacknowledge that 85% of the housing that is goingto be around in 2050 is already there that’s wherethe challenge really lies.”
Will higher sustainability costs affect supply?
One of the big concerns about higher sustainability standards has been that they would undermine housing supply. However, while it might be more costly to build tohigher sustainability standard, overall housing delivery would not be hit much, according to the JRF research.
Morgan said a modelling exercise carried out by economists at Heriot Watt showed that even building to the 2016 zero carbon standard would result in a shortfall ofjust under 2%. And this drop would be more than mitigated by increasing the rate of planning permissions, the research found.
A 20% increase in planning permissions would deliver a 3.6% increase in supply, even if those homes were constructed at 2016 standards, he estimated.
Burton agreed with the report’s conclusion on supply. “Compared to other influences, it’s absolutely trivial,” he said.
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How do ‘sustainable’ homes perform?
However, it will be hard to convince consumersthat it is worthwhile to move into sustainablyconstructed homes as long as their performancefails to measure up. One of the keyrecommendations in the JRF report is that BuildingRegulations need to include a single “as built”performance standard for energyefficient building.
Pannell said that the construction industry shouldset itself higher standards. “If they send a wing ofan Airbus from Bristol to Toulouse it fits. If we puta window on a building it doesn’t fit we have tochange our attitude to the whole process.”
Robin Nicholson, partner at architect CullinanStudio, agreed: “It’s a disgrace that we design andbuild buildings that don’t work. There are all sortsof good reason why they don’t but we don’tchallenge ourselves to measure performance.”
The problem is a circular one though, according to Adams, who pointed out that performance is not a priority for clients, probably becausethey are under little pressure on the issue from customers.
“When we see tender documents we are always asked about things like costs, delivery and aesthetics. We have never been asked anyreally good questions about ensuring that the home performs.”
By contrast, he said where display energy certificates are in force performance is further up the agenda.
Another headache is that delivering high quality is intimately connected with the wider skills shortages issues that the industry faces.
We find it very difficult to build up manufacturing capacity for modern methods in this country when there is this boom and bust
Louise Sunderland, UK Green Building council
Hocking said that this had proved to be a problem for the Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust itself at its Derwenthorpe urban extension. He said: “We face a realchallenge in retaining a trained workforce in the current competitive labour market where teams can walk off to another site at short notice.”
One way around this problem is greater use of offsite fabrication. However Louise Sunderland, senior sustainability adviser at the UK Green Building Council, pointedto the difficulty of setting up such facilities when the demand for new homes fluctuated so much due to broader economic conditions.
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She said: “We find it very difficult to build up manufacturing capacity for modern methods in this country when there is this boom and bust.”
Greater certainty is also need on the policy front too, added Rico Wojtulewicz, policy advisor for the House Builders Association. He said:“Knowing where we want to go in terms of energy efficiency means that we can put training in place.”
However Peter Halsall, chief executive of the Good Homes Alliance, said that growing awareness surrounding performance gave groundsfor optimism, offering as an example the decision by Barratt to equip its site managers with thermal imaging cameras to detect heatleakages.
In addition, he said technological improvements in areas like solar photovoltaics meant that it was becoming ever cheaper to buildsustainably. He said: “We didn’t used to know that that millimetre gap was a problem but now we do.”
Roundtable speakers
David Adams, Technical Director, Willmott DixonTony Burton, Executive Chair, Sustainable Homes
Owen Daggett, Sustainability Manager, Joseph Rowntree Housing TrustBen Derbyshire, Managing Director, HTA DesignRachel Fisher, Head of policy, National Housing FederationJoey Gardiner, Deputy Editor, Building (chair)Peter Halsall, Chief executive, Good Homes AllianceKerry Heath, Development & Regeneration Director, Hexagon Housing AssociationJohn Hocking, Executive Director, Joseph Rowntree Housing TrustJames Morgan, Lecturer, School of the Built Environment, Heriot Watt UniversityRobin Nicholson, Senior Practice Partner, Cullinan StudioRob Pannell, Managing Director, Zero Carbon HubLouise Sunderland, senior sustainability adviser, UK GBCRico Wojtulewicz, Strategy advisor, House Builders Association, a division of the National Federation of Builders
Building Sustainable Homes
The Building Sustainable Homes research was published in March, a summary or the full report can be downloaded from the JRF website atwww.jrf.org.uk/publications/buildingsustainablehomes
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