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Stakeholder Perspectives on Policy in England for the 2016 Zero Carbon Homes Target

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Stakeholder Perspectives on Policy in England for the 2016 Zero Carbon Homes Target Really Zero? Stakeholder Perspectives on Policy in England for the 2016 Zero Carbon Homes Target Dr Dan Greenwood Governance and Sustainability programme University of Westminster November 2010 Contents Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................................................ 3 Structure of the report ........................................................................................................................................... 3 1 Summary of key issues ................................................................................................................................... 5 2 Background .................................................................................................................................................... 7 2.1 An effective regulatory framework? ..................................................................................................... 8 2.2 An effective policy process? .................................................................................................................. 8 3 Objectives and Scope ................................................................................................................................... 10 4 Analytical framework ................................................................................................................................... 11 5 Methodology................................................................................................................................................ 15 6 Review of Policy for Low and Zero Carbon New Homes .............................................................................. 16 6.1 How to define a zero carbon home? ................................................................................................... 19 6.1.1 On site or off site renewables? ....................................................................................................... 19 6.2 How to measure energy efficiency? .................................................................................................... 25 6.2.1 A relative or absolute approach? .................................................................................................... 30 6.2.2 Defining the minimum energy efficiency standard ........................................................................ 31 6.3 PassivHaus: an alternative design approach ....................................................................................... 33 6.3.1 PHPP: an alternative approach to measuring energy efficiency ..................................................... 34 6.4 How to choose building technologies? ............................................................................................... 36 6.5 How to define emissions reduction targets for different house types? ............................................. 38 6.6 How to assess water efficiency? ......................................................................................................... 40 6.6.1 Water .............................................................................................................................................. 40 6.7 How to assess the sustainability of building materials?...................................................................... 46 6.8 General views about the Code for Sustainable Homes ....................................................................... 49 6.9 Is policy being put into practice? ........................................................................................................ 53 6.10 Is policy being informed by monitoring the performance of new homes? ......................................... 56 1 6.11 Does the industry have the skills? ....................................................................................................... 58 6.12 The zero carbon agenda – a party political issue? .............................................................................. 59 7 Summary of policy perspectives .................................................................................................................. 61 7.1 Long term? .......................................................................................................................................... 61 7.2 Clear? .................................................................................................................................................. 61 7.3 Flexibile? ............................................................................................................................................. 62 7.4 Outcome-focused? .............................................................................................................................. 63 7.5 Innovative? .......................................................................................................................................... 64 7.6 Inclusive? ............................................................................................................................................. 64 7.7 Accountable?....................................................................................................................................... 67 7.8 Simple? ................................................................................................................................................ 69 7.9 Joined up? ........................................................................................................................................... 69 7.10 Robust? ............................................................................................................................................... 75 7.11 Evidence based? .................................................................................................................................. 76 7.12 Outward-looking? ............................................................................................................................... 77 7.13 Conflicting interests? .......................................................................................................................... 78 7.14 Sufficient resources? ........................................................................................................................... 79 7.15 On course for 2016? ............................................................................................................................ 80 8 Concluding Remarks .................................................................................................................................... 81 9 Future Research ........................................................................................................................................... 83 10 Appendices................................................................................................................................................... 84 10.1 Appendix One: Comment on developments under the Conservative/ Liberal Democrat Coalition Government ..................................................................................................................................................... 84 10.2 Appendix Two: Interviewee details ..................................................................................................... 84 2 Acknowledgements I am grateful for funding for this research received from The Quintin Hogg Foundation. I would like to thank colleagues on the Governance and Sustainability programme at University of Westminster whose advice and feedback in relation to this project is much appreciated: Liza Griffin, Tassilo Herrschel, Patricia Hogwood, Simon Joss, Amanda Machin, Peter Newman, Malcolm Rigg and Fred Stewart. Thank you also very much to Jenny Lau at the Policy Studies Institute for her work on the design of this report. I am extremely grateful to all of my interviewees for taking the time out of their busy schedules to discuss the issues with me. This project would of course simply not have been possible without their participation. Structure of the report This report is intended to be read by anyone with an interest in UK policy for sustainable housing. The parts of section 3 which give an introduction to policy are shown in grey boxes. Those readers who already have a detailed knowledge about policy might wish to skip these sections. The structure of this report is as follows. Section 1 highlights the key findings of the research. Section 2 introduces the background to this research and the main questions addressed. The framework used to analyse policy and the policy process for reducing the CO2 emissions of new homes is explained. Section 3 explains the project objectives and section 4 introduces the framework for analysing stakeholder perspectives. Section 5 outlines the methodology of this study. Section 6 introduces the key areas of policy and explains the findings of this research about the views of stakeholders. The policy areas covered are as follows: The definition of zero carbon, including the balance between on-site and off-site renewables, the target level of energy efficiency and how energy efficiency is assessed Some issues concerning the design of buildings Further parts of the Code for Sustainable Homes which also concern the CO2 emissions of homes: water efficiency and the choice of building materials General views about the Code for Sustainable Homes The
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