Following the announcement that the Government might extend the Green Deal programme to include new build homes, leading boiler and renewable manufacturer Vokèra is showing its support for this notion.
The announcement was made by Housing Minister Grant Shapps at the Zero Carbon Hub Annual Conference. Potentially, house builders could be given a Green Deal loan when developing new homes to zero carbon standards.
Vokèra's commercial and renewables sales manager Robert Lockhart explained: 'The extension of the Green Deal to include new homes has the potential to give the UK a much needed boost towards meeting carbon reduction targets. In Vokèra's opinion, consistency of policy for both new build and retrofit applications would certainly be of benefit to the industry.
'From a practical point of view, it also makes sense to install renewables during the house building phase. This can actually result in a lower installation cost than retrofitting, as the house can be designed to incorporate renewables, for example, fitting an inset solar collector into the roof will reduce the number of roof tiles required. In addition, equipment such as scaffolding will already be in place, saving time and money.
'This said, there is still some clarification needed that is crucial to the success of an extended scheme. It is important that it is clear how the loan will be paid back by house builders as it obviously can't work in the same way as it does for homeowners - who will repay through their fuel bills.
'In addition, it's important that the funds for house builders are allocated on top of those already set aside for the retrofit market. New builds should only be an addition and not draw the focus away from existing building stock - as homeowners really do need an incentive to go green as they are not legally obliged to under legislation.'