The future of heat

In January 2017, BSRIA lent its support to a government consultation seeking input from the construction industry to help develop and support future policies for heat in non-domestic buildings.

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) suggests non-domestic buildings in the UK account for 12% of greenhouse gas emissions. Meeting the UK’s 2050 carbon reduction target will require eliminating nearly all emissions from heating buildings and a substantial proportion from heating for industrial processes.

The consultation is open until: Friday 27th January 2017 and can be seen here.

The consultation considers:

• Keeping energy bills as low as possible.
• Continuing to ensure the nation has a secure and resilient system.
• Remaining at the leading edge of science, research and innovation.
• Reducing carbon emissions cost-effectively.

Alongside this call for evidence, BEIS is publishing the Building Energy Efficiency Survey (BEES) (building energy efficiency survey) research.

BEES provides detail on energy use and abatement potential to reduce energy and carbon emissions, as well as barriers and enablers across the whole non-domestic building stock.

Peter Tse, BSRIA Principal Design Consultant, said:

“We urge BSRIA members and industry alike to complete this survey. This consultation provides the opportunity for the building industry to provide the context to support development of a long term policy strategy to deliver the most effective savings.”

Early in 2016, BSRIA was commissioned by the former Department of Energy & Climate Change (DECC) to provide them with a better understanding of current knowledge and gaps in knowledge in relation to low-carbon heating and cooling systems in the non-domestic sector.

This work identified industry experiences, drivers and challenges associated with low-carbon technologies, the industry view on current relevant policies and standards and recommendations to support the policy making process.

It was supplemented by a jointly-hosted event by BSRIA and BEIS to discuss the standards and performance of heating systems in non-domestic buildings and what roles government and industry should take to overcome the challenges to the uptake of low-carbon technologies and measures.

This article was originally published here by BSRIA in Jan 2017.

--BSRIA

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