Will Frost from Saint-Gobain Off-Site Solutions asserts that the Future Homes Standard offers developers a chance to prioritise long-term benefits over short-term cost savings, while reducing carbon emissions.
One of the best ways to achieve the ambitious aims of the Future Homes Standard is for housebuilders and developers to embrace a fabric-first approach, using offsite Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) as a catalyst to deliver inherently efficient homes of the future.
As we move towards whole-building energy assessments, which by their nature take a more comprehensive view of performance than previous piecemeal measures, we believe that the emphasis should move away from bolt-on energy-saving measures to a comprehensive evaluation of a building’s fabric. The building’s structure should be designed with high performance in mind, giving decades of improved efficiency for a low early investment.
Regulatory hurdles or a chance for lasting change?
It is little surprise that some housebuilders have focused on achieving short-term gains to achieve compliance with, at times, increasingly complex energy performance requirements.
Energy efficiency in new builds has sometimes been treated as an afterthought. While adding solar panels or heat pumps certainly have their place in any modern housing design, they do not address inefficiencies in buildings created through thermal bridging, low quality insulation or air leakage, which can compromise a building’s overall performance.
Without a solid foundation, there is a risk that technological solutions become window dressing, rather than part of a well delivered solution.
The Future Homes Standard (FHS) challenges developers to shift their focus towards the long-term performance of the home, and recent government discussions have indicated that the FHS is the start of a programme of improvement, not the end point. These standards have the potential to deliver real change in the performance of our housing stock.
A fabric-first approach
Central to meeting the Future Homes Standard is a fabric-first approach. This strategy prioritises the energy performance of the building’s core elements, including the walls, floors and roofs, before considering additional technologies or systems.
Focusing on the building envelope to enhance its thermal performance, such as minimising thermal bridging, ensuring airtightness and thermal efficiency and limiting the risk of overheating, will all contribute to reduced energy demand. In turn this leads to a lower carbon footprint and helps ensure long-term savings for the homeowner when combined with energy efficient technologies.
The role of offsite construction
The benefits of offsite construction are well documented, but when it comes to improving the building envelope, these benefits are wider reaching than simply offering a means to speed up the building process or to reduce waste.
To begin, every component can be fabricated to exact specifications, meaning that all parts fit together precisely, ensuring that the building is built as it was designed to be. Wall panels incorporating high-performance insulation materials can be manufactured under controlled conditions, with pre-installed insulated reveals around windows and doors to prevent heat loss at these critical points.
Elsewhere, roof trusses and floor cassettes can be designed to exact dimensions, with insulation integrated directly into the structure. Each element can then be inspected and checked before it leaves the factory; a level of control that is difficult to achieve onsite.
This ensures that the building’s structure supports both its thermal performance and overall energy efficiency.
Early integration is key
Cost-conscious homeowners are aware of the correlation between an energy-efficient home and a reduction in their energy bills. There is a justifiable expectation that a new build home will be cost-efficient to run and can help owners to be environmentally responsible.
The need for developers to embed energy efficiency into the design phase is clear. Early integration not only future-proofs projects for longevity and durability, but it also helps increase the market value of homes due to their lower operational costs – and greater perceived comfort factors.
In conclusion, the future of housing lies in a commitment to embedding energy performance at the initial design phase, and into the structures of the house itself. This fabric-first approach, combined with the precision and efficiency of offsite construction, offers a clear path to meeting the Future Homes Standard, and so, more importantly, delivering better homes.
Will Frost is head of housing solutions at Saint-Gobain Off-Site Solutions