HABS - too much ambition, not enough commitment

Our Project Manager Lucy Formoy shares her thoughts on the Heat and Buildings Strategy, bringing an architect's eye to BEIS' efforts...

The weeks leading up to COP26 saw the release of many of the long-awaiting climate -focussed strategies by the UK Government including the Net Zero Strategy, Future support for local carbon heat, and the Heat Pump Ready innovation programme. Amongst this flurry of policy release was the much awaited Heat and Buildings Strategy which was released on 19^th October 2021.

Although there are a lot of positives within the strategy, and it’s good to see so many different areas of policy come together in one place, overall, there is a bit too much of the word “ambition” and just not enough firm commitments in place; this can certainly be said for the “confirmed ambition” to eliminate fossil fuels by 2035.

There is a large focus on supporting heat pump deployment at a large scale (600,000 per year by 2028) starting with the £450m 3-year Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS). Heat networks are also mentioned as being a key technology for high density areas with £338 million outlined to be invested in the Heat Network Transformation Programme before 2025; there is a lot of hope pinned on the decarbonisation of heat networks but not too much said about the current efficiencies of heat networks (or lack of) and how we need to overcome these issues before we can think about decarbonising them. However, there is a lot mentioned about the importance of zoning, which is a positive step forward in heat networks.

The strategy states that research into hydrogen will continue to be supported, and that a strategic decision will be made in 2026 on the role of hydrogen in decarbonising heat; CCUS is also acknowledged as being an essential part of this. Its positive to see that a date has been set for a final decision on hydrogen which is often seen as the “silver bullet” of the clean heat players; £millions has already been spent on the development of this technology and it is about time that its future role is determined. The fact the decision is going to be a year after the Future Homes Standard in 2025 shows us that there probably won’t be a large role for hydrogen to play in the domestic sector, although there is a possibility that it will play a part in the decarbonisation of heat networks.

The biggest disappointment with the strategy is that there isn’t nearly enough said about the role of energy efficiency and the fabric first approach in buildings – just one page of no-regrets actions with nothing innovative or ground-breaking whatsoever. The strategy doesn’t come close to acknowledging the importance the fabric-first approach to drastically reduce the heating demand of buildings. The fear is that the BUS is going to lead to an influx of oversized ASHPs in buildings that are not nearly efficient enough, ending up with higher residents’ bills and a huge demand upon the electricity grid that we’re already struggling to decarbonise. The strategy outlines an ambition to rebalance energy prices so that heat pumps are no more expensive to run than gas boilers, however there is no hope of this unless the heating demand of the buildings is at a bare minimum.

Image courtesy of https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Markham-suburbs_aerial-edit2.jpg