need to know
New legislation for environmentally friendly homes is well-meaning but misguided
Does anyone remember the Code for Sustainable Homes? It’s now been subsumed into Building Regulations, but one bit of it sticks in my mind. It stated that by 2016, all new properties built would be at code level 6, meaning zero carbon. Quite a laudable aspiration, loaded with green virtue signalling and a nice neat soundbite that tripped off the tongues of politicians, but what did it actually mean? That all new dwellings would be powered by renewables and unable to use mains electricity? That no mains gas could be used? How about the JCB digging out all of the foundations or the vehicles that brought the materials on site – would the carbon generated by their nasty dirty diesel engines count? I said I would eat my old RAF service dress hat if this ever came to pass. Sure enough, when people realised the absurdity of this, the whole thing was quietly dropped and my hat survived.