The government’s decision to abandon plans for achieving zero carbon homes by 2016 – a policy that will also be applied to non-domestic properties – has significant implications for the HVAC industry, says the Industrial and Commercial Energy Association (ICOM).'In the same month that the UK's first 'carbon positive’ home has been unveiled, the Chancellor has scrapped the requirement for new homes to be zero carbon by 2016,” observed ICOM Director Ross Anderson. “Furthermore, our discussions with the Department for Communities and Local Government have revealed that this will also apply to non-domestic premises – and that there will be no uplift to the Building Regulations 2016.“This is giving a strong message that the Government does not feel renewables are important, compounded by the recent lowering of the non-domestic RHI small biomass tariff. We believe this is the wrong message to the industry and end users, not least because this approach would appear to conflict with the European Commission requirement to deliver nearly zero energy buildings from 2021 (2019 in the public sector).“As a result, the industry does not have a clear policy to work to. At a time when we need certainty to help inform future investment decisions, once again we have been left with a confused picture that is sadly lacking in clarity,” he concluded.www.icom.org.uk