Confused by carbon jargon? The NHBC Foundation launches a comprehensive new guide

The NHBC Foundation has today published a free guide to help explain and standardise the language used around carbon and energy in the house-building industry. From ‘absolute zero carbon’ to ‘zero carbon ready’, it details common energy terms, explaining what they mean and how they differ.

With growing societal awareness of environmental issues, NHBC Foundation, which provides high quality research and practical guidance to support the house-building industry, recoginsed that carbon and energy terminolgy can be confusing and inconsistent. This new guide aims to help standarise the language used by house builders to provide much needed clarity.

Following discussion with the house-building sector, the need was clear for a straightforward set of explanations and definitions which developers, designers, architects, planners and other built environment professionals could adopt for sector-wide consistency. This will help consumers as they will be able to make informed decisions about the sustainability credentials of their potential new home.

“We’re excited to publish this guide as we believe there’s a real need for clarity around carbon and energy terminology in house building,” commented Richard Smith, Head of Standards, Research & Technical Competency at NHBC. “For years there’s been inconsistency, which is confusing for both developers and consumers – we want to end this and simplify the language used by everyone.

“The importance of a home’s energy efficiency and carbon emissions is only going to grow in the coming years and we feel this important issue should be tackled now. With better knowledge and understanding everyone will benefit, be better informed and able to make the best choices.”

While the NHBC Foundation Carbon Jargon guide doesn’t cover every conflicting energy definition, it does aim to provide a concise, common vocabulary, including applicable official definitions used by Government. It’s intended to be a handy, digestible reference tool for anyone who wants clarity in the confusing world of energy and carbon.

The Carbon Jargon guide is available now. Download it for free here.