ECD's Cambridge housing project was a NZCBS pilot scheme
The first version of the UK Net Zero Carbon Buildings Standard (UKNZCBS) has been officially launched.
UKNZCBS, which creates a unified definition for net zero carbon-aligned buildings in the UK, was published this month.
The Standard, which if the rest of the UK building stock were to collectively implement compatible interventions, could enable the UK built environment sector to stay within its share of the UK’s national carbon and energy budgets.
The requirements outlined in the Standard cover a range of topics such as upfront carbon, operational energy use, avoidance of fossil fuel use on site, renewables and refrigerants.
Version 1 states that the Standard is intended to evolve over time to include the following aspects: life-cycle embodied carbon limits; whole life carbon limits; space heating and/or cooling limits across further sectors and building types; electricity demand management limits; and new limits for areas or uses currently classified as additional uses.
Offsets may be used to complement, but not replace, the core elements of the UKNZCBS, and may be used to achieve net zero carbon at the asset level defined by the term ‘Net Zero Carbon Aligned Building (plus offsets)’ within the standard.
The document describes the publication of Version 1 as a ‘significant step forward’ for the industry.
Development of the technical content, text and the numerical limits in the Standard has been led by the UKNZCBS technical steering group, which includes representatives from industry bodies, including CIBSE.
Read an interview with UK NZCBS chief exectuive Katie Clemence-Jackson here.
