Government redefines 2016 target

29 Nov '10: DNC writes: Regrettably, but inevitably the coalition government have bowed to the pressure from the commercial house-builders and dropped / redefined the 2016 target.
http://www.communities.gov.uk/news/corporate/1779881
    I am not surprised for two reasons, 1. The house builders have tremendous influence with a goverment that is trying to make a bonfire of regulations, and 2. The 2016 target was extremely difficult to meet if you took it quite literally. It has never been totally clear what Carbon-Zero means anyway, does it cover the heating cost, or must it cover the entire heating, hotwater and power requirements? Here's a page from the Guardian trying to define it:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/aug/04/zero-carbon-homes
   The german Passivhaus standard is very clear, although it is extremely prescriptive, and no doubt house-builders will hate that too.
   To make matters worse, the Government invites developers to make suggestions for further deregulation of the industry.
  However, the good thing seems to be that there is greater encouragement for renewable technology, power generation etc. to compensate for the house itself not being carbon zero in the Passivhaus sense. PV is a major part of this new strategy, so if you are in the business of designing houses, make sure they have clear south facing roofs! (if you weren't doing it before). As PV is a choice that the householder can make, presumably this is shifting much of the cost from the developers to the occupants.
  There is more information and diagrams here: http://www.ukgbc.org/site/document/download/?document_id=985
  As you would expect, the eloquent Georges Monbiot is able to deliver powerful criticism of this policy change.
 http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/georgemonbiot/2010/nov/26/zero-carbon-homes
  Sorry to namedrop here, but I met David Miliband in 2007 at the Hay Festival when he was Energy minister. I told him that 'Carbon-Zero' was somewhat mythical and could not be achieved by builders of affordable mass housing in suburban environments (with whatever certainty I have from working at the University in a department full of people trying to do this). He brushed this aside politely assuring me that his experts thought it would be possible. About a week later, he was no longer Energy Secretary, handing over to his brother, Ed. This is why I am not totally surprised by the Government's decision.
  Thanks to this decision, this definition does make my house Carbon Zero, as the PV generates 3,325 kWh/yr and the Space Heating cost is 3,000 kWh/yr of electricity...