Deceuninck ready for Future Homes
With consultation on the Future Homes Standard expected to be launched imminently, Deceuninck has said that it is confident it will meet future requirements.
Homes make up around 14% of all of the UK’s emissions. With a commitment to cut total UK emissions by 80% relative to 1990 levels by 2050 under the Climate Change Act (2008) reducing household carbon emissions assumes critical importance in the Government’s climate strategy.
While the Government has dropped some of the initiatives in its climate change strategy, Future Homes remains on track, with a commitment from the Department for Energy and Net Zero to launch consultation imminently.
Under the current proposals it’s widely expected that this will introduce a new notional value for new build of 0.8 W/m2K with a limiting value of 1.2W/m2K – standards Deceuninck has said it is confident its customers will be able to meet.
“At the time of writing we’re making an educated guess, so figures aren’t exact,” said John Duckworth, director of commercial sales, “We’ll have to also have wait for the outcome of the consultation and ultimately the reaction from housebuilders.
“If, however, developers specify the notional U-value, at 0.8 W/m2K, windows and doors move to triple-glazing, if they choose to make up the ‘gap’ elsewhere, for example by increasing the specification of other materials, they could go with a lower level of performance of up to 1.2W/m2K.
“We’ll have to wait and see. Either way, our customers can be confident that they’ll meet requirements for Future Homes, either from within their existing Deceuninck offer, or through our next generation ranges.”
This includes Elegant. With contemporary minimalist features, it replicates aluminium in an advanced, low maintenance and energy efficient, composite system delivering a step change in performance achieving U-values as low as 0.8W/m2K.
“Elegant gives you a lot of design flexibility,” John says. “You’re getting a window that can be optimised for either commercial or residential applications with a massive amount of flexibility within those markets because of the combination of sash and frame options that we can offer.”
The Department for Energy and Net Zero has confirmed to industry that it intends to launch the consultation on the Future Homes Standard before Christmas 2023.
Following on from the changes seen to Part L in June 2022, this is widely expected to introduce an uplift in standards of window and door performance in newbuild, with home improvement expected to stay at the 2022 1.4W/m2K requirement.
Any change in 2025 would also include a transitional period, allowing fabricators to upgrade the thermal performance of their offers.