New NHBC Foundation report seeks to unlock full potential of the Future Homes Standard

The NHBC Foundation has today published a new report that gives advice and guidance to house builders on unlocking the full potential of the Future Homes Standard. The report considers the challenges that may arise from energy saving measures in new homes and how these could be overcome.

While construction principles and technology largely exist to enable new build homes to be future-proofed with low carbon heating and world-leading levels of energy efficiency by 2025, work still needs to be done on bridging gaps in the house-building industry’s knowledge, skills and practices to deliver these homes reliably and at volume.

Future Homes - Avoiding unintended consequences has three key themes – heating, ventilation and design considerations – and covers issues that are fundamental to homeowners, including comfort, usability and resilience to climate change. This free report, in association with Studio Partington, is available in a new, interactive, digital format, on its own dedicated website. Designed to act as a resource for the industry, this website will also signpost users to other guides and learning.

Richard Smith, NHBC’s Head of Standards, Innovation and Research, said: “The Future Homes Standard will set the UK in the forefront of global ambitions to achieve net-zero homes. We want this ongoing project to become a forum for knowledge and a stimulus for thinking about the home in use, as well as its design for future homeowners. Our aim is for it to prompt discussion, identify the scale of the challenge and be a reminder of lessons from the recent past.

“Over the coming months, we will continue to identify the challenges and anticipate possible consequences, thinking particularly of homeowners’ needs and the things that should be in place to allow our homes to function efficiently.”

The NHBC Foundation’s research programme is steered by an expert panel of senior representatives from the house-building industry and academic world. NHBC Foundation research is funded by NHBC and is one way in which the company re-invests its profits into achieving its core purpose of raising standards in house building.

To access the full report, click here.