Why I’m disgusted by standards of building
YOUR article stating West Berkshire Council had not insisted on energy efficient standards of building from developers as the developers didn’t like the idea filled me with disgust and anger (Newbury Weekly News, March 11).
Most of the building industry in this country has been failing its customers for 30 years now and wishes to continue to do so even longer.
Developers are giving their customers third-class housing and the council is acquiescing in this when the council and national government have declared a climate emergency.
National builders persuaded the government against zero carbon homes in 2016 and are again pushing back the date for 21st-century housing.
They are abusing their monopoly position on housing provision to foist third-class housing on the British people for another 10 years.
The rise in the cost of housing can’t be used as an excuse by developers not to build quality, zero carbon housing because the developer pays the land owner on the basis of his final costs. Most developers don’t own the land on which they get planning permission, they hold it under an Option Agreement with the land owner whereby the final price of the land is determined after the planning permission is granted, so any extra provisions in the planning decision come off the land price.
Even if the cost of building does rise with PassivHaus Standards, about five per cent of the total price, the home owner can well afford that increase because of the much lower heating bills from a PassivHaus.
Norwich Council recently won the Stirling Prize for Architecture with some low-cost PassivHauses.
Many occupiers haven’t used the central heating at all and some for only a few days.
Well-insulated houses are very affordable to live in.
They are also far more comfortable in both summer and winter as they can dissipate summer heat as well as hold in heat in winter.
Having designed house insulation renovations to save 80 per cent on fuel bills and also energy-efficient buildings for almost 50 years, why I am still waiting for the industry to catch up? The PassivHaus Standard has existenced for 30 years and provides a path to zero carbon housing.
Full zero carbon can be added by bolting on PV panels at build time or very cheaply later on.
Improving the insulation of a house after building is a costly, intrusive business which is what the third-rate housing the council is allowing our cheapskate developers to build for us condemns us to.
How can I say that the housing is third rate and the developers are cheapskate?
Well the Housing Quality Mark (HQM) the council is asking of the developers is a choice of five levels with HMQ 5 being the highest and obviously first class quality.
That means that the HQM 3 level that the council requires is not first, nor second, as that would be HQM 4, but third class.
We should complain to the Advertising Standards Authority if any builder locally advertises quality homes without the description third being added if they do not achieve HQM 5 with a Home Energy Performance Ratio of 0.9.
And why can I say that the developers are cheapskates?
Well they are claiming to build ‘quality homes’ when their request to the council to build third-rate homes while claiming they are ‘quality homes’ indicates they are short-changing the public and have been for the 30 years that the PassivHaus Standard has been available and so can be referred to as ‘cheapskates’.
Why do I advocate the use of the PassivHaus Standard over the Housing Quality Mark?
The HQM builds on the Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP) method of calculating the heat loss from a home.
It has been well recognised in the industry that SAP does not do a good job of assessing the heat losses: SAP assessments underestimate heat loss. Also HQM allows developers to trade off factors such as proximity to a bus route or food-growing space against the insulation, the carbon the house will emit, of the house.
Why would a developer trade off insulation against these other provisions?
Well the other provisions are cheaper. Cheapskate?
PassivHaus Standard has been used for 30 years when by measuring the energy use post occupation it has been found to accurately assess the heat loss from a house.
‘It does what it says on the tin!’
When you have a standard proven to guarantee performance why invent another based on a failing system? Those are the reasons that I am disgusted that West Berkshire Council and local and national developers are giving us third-rate housing.
KEN NEAL
Building design and environmental consultant
Basingstoke Road
Newbury