The Code for Sustainable Homes (CfSH), which has been the national standard for the sustainable design and construction of new homes since 2007, has now been officially withdrawn. Following the conclusion of the Housing Standards Review, rules on energy efficiency requirements will now be incorporated into the Building Regulations.
In the wake of this recent shake up, the Building Research Environment (BRE) have devised a new voluntary ‘Home Quality Mark’ scheme which will provide buyers with the overall expected costs, health benefits and environmental footprint of their new homes. The scheme will be assessed under three sections and it is expected to integrate certain aspects of the Ecology sections of the now redundant CfSH (Eco 1 – Eco 4). Full technical guidance is due to be released shortly.
Note that the BREEAM scheme has not been affected. Local Authorities may therefore still require non-residential developments to meet BREEAM standards.
