Future Homes Standard

In 2021, under the conservative government a consortium of experts led by the BRE were appointed to carry out a multi-year project to develop a replacement for the Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP). In December 2023 the consultation 'The Future Homes and Buildings Standards: 2023 consultation' was published along with the 'Home Energy Model: Future Homes Standard assessment' on the same day.

The proposed Future Homes Standard would see building regulations amended to explicitly promote solar for the first time, subject to practical limits with flexibility in place for new homes surrounded by trees or with lots of shade overhead.

Under proposed changes, new homes will also have low-carbon heating, such as heat pumps and high levels of energy efficiency, cutting people’s energy bills and boosting the nation’s energy security with clean, homegrown power, in line with the Prime Minister’s Plan for Change.

From switching on the kettle to cooking dinner and doing the weekly wash, families will now be able to seize the benefits of powering their lives with clean, renewable energy from the very first day in their new home, with cheaper energy bills that put more money back in their pockets.

The intention is that this approach be used to replace the most recent SAP version 10.2 for the energy rating of new dwellings, though the approach for existing dwellings (RdSAP) was not explicitly discussed in the consultation. The update to RdSAP (RdSAP 10), initially expected in 2024 and now expected to be available in 2025, was anticipated to significantly improve on previous versions. It aims to have a number of upgrades, including new technologies, protocols for datacollection, detailed recommendations, and better carbon emissions assessments, which would then be incorporated into an EPC, and feed into other government funding schemes such as the Boiler Upgrade Service (BUS).

It is intended that from 2025 all new homes will comply with the Future Homes Standard. This standard uses what is called the Home Energy Model (HEM) and will be the primary tool used to demonstrate compliance during the building design and planning stages for homes. It is also expected that both SAP and RdSAP will be replaced by the Home Energy Model (HEM) in the future and used as the basis for calculating EPCs for new and existing buildings by 2026.

The Home Energy Model: Future Homes Standard assessment is a methodology designed to assess compliance with the 2025 Future Homes Standard (“FHS”). The Home Energy Model and FHS assessment together make up the Home Energy Model: FHS assessment. Both are still under development and will be implemented alongside the FHS in 2025.

To manage the broad range of data points or inputs that will be covered by the HEM, it is likely that the model will have to use a number of assumptions rather than inputting individual data for each project. These assumptions may range in relation to the purpose of the assessment, the occupancy patterns, localised weather patterns, links to other building standards, white goods, air tightness, ventilation, and so on. It is intended that these data points and assumptions, which may also expand with time, are simplified and included via assessment wrappers. The model is intended to be flexible enough to account for and allow for adjustments based on specific buildings while being simple enough to be workable.

[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings

• BRE Group response to the Future Homes Standard consultation.
• BRE response to the green housing revolution.
• Building Beautiful Places plan.
• Building Better, Building Beautiful Commission interim report.
• Building Better, Building Beautiful Commission.
• Changes to Building Regulations Part F.
• Getting zero carbon done.
• Future Buildings Standard.
• Future Buildings Standard shortcomings raised.
• Future Homes Standard consultations.
• Green Housing Revolution.
• Home design prospects under the Future Homes Standard.
• Home Energy Model.
• Hybrid heat pump electric panel heating.
• Is hydrogen the heating fuel of the future?
• National Design Guide.
• Pilot programme for National Model Design Code NMDC.
• The effects of subframe systems on the overall thermal performance of external rainscreen walls.
• The EPC consultation in the context of changes to the NCM.
• Thermal bridging and the Future Homes Standard.

Comments

1. REDIRECT Talk:Future Homes Standard consultations