New housing specifications

Sero has launched a New Build Specification to support others in the industry in delivering truly net zero in operation homes – for all homes: social housing, privately owned and rented accommodation.

The specification maps out considerations relating to the design and fabric of the home - including heating, the use of renewables and smart energy technologies - to ensure a performance standard that will be truly net zero in operation (in accordance with the UK Green Build Council’s definition) at some point during the 2030s as the energy grid continues to decarbonise.

The publication of Sero’s specification follows the release this week of Welsh Government’s latest Development Quality Requirements, Creating Beautiful Homes and Places, which requires all newly built social homes in Wales to be fossil fuel free and reach the highest energy efficiency standards moving forward.

Welsh Government’s ambition is for private developers to adopt the same approach by 2025. The Sero New Build Specification will help developers deliver net zero homes as soon as they are able, and is based around three key principles:

1. Zero Carbon homes must include the occupants unregulated (plug-in) emissions and not just heating
2. Zero Carbon homes to be planned to converge with the ongoing large-scale grid decarbonisation activities
3. Zero Carbon homes have systems that ‘hunt’ low carbon time-of-use energy and offer the grid ‘demand shift’

As well as working with a number of social landlords to deliver zero carbon new homes and to retrofit existing homes, Sero is also working to pave the way within the private sector to help facilitate the delivery of zero carbon homes, including the recent announcement of a JV agreement with Edenstone Homes Group that will see the delivery of 6,000 zero carbon homes by 2030.

Read the full specification here.