BEAMA, the trade body representing electrotechnical and heating equipment manufacturers, published its Future Homes Standard Phase 1 Network-to-Emitter Impact Report on 1 July 2023. The report is intended to inform Government and industry before the Future Homes Standard consultation, which the body says is expected after summer 20231.
The report examines low carbon HVAC technologies that could be specified in new homes once the standard takes effect, setting out the benefits and considerations of each option1. It also puts recommendations to Government on making the transition to low carbon systems work, covering competency within the industry, lessons from the 2021 Building Regulation update, and the cost of electricity1.
"Our Future Homes Standard Phase 1 Impact Report has been written to provide information to Government and industry ahead of the Future Homes Standard consultation, which is expected towards after Summer 2023."
The report does not name the specific technologies it assesses, and no figures for costs, carbon or performance are given in the published description. The consultation date is described only as expected after summer 2023; no fixed date has been reported1.
Why it matters for households
The Future Homes Standard sets the rules for heating and energy performance in new homes in England, so the technologies it allows determine what buyers of new builds get installed and how those homes are heated for years afterwards. BEAMA's report is aimed at the consultation that will shape those rules, not at existing homes, but the choices made there feed into the wider supply chain, installer skills and the equipment available in the market1.
For a household, the practical questions are which systems a new home can be built with, whether a gas connection remains an option, and what running costs follow from the electricity price. BEAMA flags the cost of electricity as one of its recommendations to Government, which points to running cost rather than purchase price as a barrier to low carbon systems1. The report also raises competency within the industry, which bears on whether systems are installed and commissioned to perform as designed1.
The report does not cover Scotland, where a separate New Build Heat Standard applies, and it does not set out rates or eligible measures in the way a consultation would. Details of the technologies assessed, and any comparison between them, have not been reported1.
What happens next
The Future Homes Standard consultation is expected after summer 2023, according to BEAMA1. No date has been confirmed in the published material, and no timetable for the Government response or for the standard coming into force is given1.