Energy secretary Chris Huhne wants all new homes in the UK to be built to the Passivhaus standard.
And he believes that the standard can even be achieved in the country’s existing ageing housing stock.
Mr Huhne, speaking at the first UK Passivhaus conference, said it was vital that the UK learned lessons from the likes of Passivhaus, especially as the government was preparing to roll out the Green Deal, which will help householders find out about energy efficiency measures and finance the work without covering all the upfront costs, with options to repay through savings on energy bills.
The deal will be underpinned by standards and accreditation for assessors and installers, with eligible energy efficient measures to be focused on the building fabric. “Passivhaus has already overcome many of these hurdles,” said Mr Huhne.
The minister said the Passivhaus standard represented a watershed moment in our relationship with the built environment.
He re-emphasised the government’s commitment that all new homes post-2016 can be carbon-zero, without letting the costs of new build stop sustainable development.
“And we will introduce a minimum standard for fabric energy efficiency, based on the recent consultation on the Code of 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. I also notice that, in Germany, construction costs of the Passivhaus have tumbled with scale.”
