Why aren’t we building energy efficient homes?

[Skeptisk]

I was reading a report this morning about changes to building standards. Apparently for a new semi detached 3 bed house the extra cost of incorporating solar panels, a heat pump and batteries for storage is around £5k, yet annual energy costs would drop by two thirds from £1800 to £500. So pay back within a handful of years and clearly beneficial many times over for such long lived assets as houses. Yet because developers are not forced to do anything they generally don’t - relying on cheap gas boilers - which probably helps with their margins.

At a minimum developers should be forced to offer the option on new developments (and at cost) so that buyers can make a choice. You would have to be pretty stupid not to pay the £5k.

[miniman]

[J4CKO]

New estate going up near us,

https://www.storyhomes.co.uk/developments/fulshaw-...

All appear to have solar built in, not cheap houses but does seem to be happening in some cases.

[dxg]

New build homes are actually quite efficient. If they can be made airtight. That's the difficult part.

And it's the airtightness that freaks the owners out. The moment you open a window for ventilation, you might as well not bother.

Users need training. Lots of stories from the continent of people turning off the MVHR in these airtight homes and then wonder where all the mould is coming from. And how many mainstream owners of these homes appreciate that these MVHRs have filters in them that need to be changed once a year. And how many of these MVHRs have been installed with enough space to slide the filters out. And how many have been installed in such a way that the entire unit can be exchanged when its fan burns out? And where's the local industry that cleans the dust out the ducts? And, and, and...