Chris Huhne, in a speech to the UK Passivhaus conference Oct 11 '10:
"I would like to see every new home in the UK reach the Passivhaus standard – and there are some beautiful examples on display tonight. We are making progress.
We will ensure that all new homes post-2016 can be zero-carbon, without letting the costs of new build stop the sustainable development we need.
And we will introduce a minimum standard for fabric energy efficiency, based on the recent consultation on the Code for Sustainable Homes.
This will help us to break away from the model of homes being developed at low cost, but which are expensive to run. Moving toward a new concept of value in home ownership."
It is great to see the present government keeping the 2016 target in existence, and taking on the recognised standard of Passivhaus. He also mentions the importance of retrofitting the existing housing stock:"We also need to make homes that have already been built more energy efficient.
The Technology Strategy Board’s ‘Retrofit for the Future’ Competition is providing some fantastic examples of what is technically possible. Even in the UK, with some of Europe’s oldest housing stock, the Passivhaus standard can be achieved.
But it also highlights the cost and disruption, as houses are stripped to their bare bones before efficiency measures are installed.
The biggest challenge we face in retrofitting is not just getting householders on board, but having a credible answer when the going gets tough. When cost or inconvenience is a real barrier to improvement.
At the heart of the Energy bill which we will be introducing later this year will be the Green Deal: a radical programme backed by a completely new finance mechanism.
In times of rising bills and tight family budgets, one of the major barriers to energy improvement is the upfront cost.
The Green Deal will provide a straightforward way for people to find out about energy efficiency measures, finance the work and feel the benefits.
It will offer households the chance to improve their homes without covering all the upfront costs, with the option to repay through savings on the energy bills of them and their successors in the home. "
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