- Pro-growth campaign group Britain Remade call on the
government to end the war on air conditioning in new builds by
backing the installation of air-to-air heat pumps
- Government should end the bias against air conditioning by
allowing air-to-air heat pumps to be eligible for the £7,500
grants via the Boiler Upgrade Scheme
- With a 95% clean energy grid by 2030 there will be abundant
clean energy to cool Britain's homes; if the energy is not used
solar farms will be paid to switch off
With parts of the country experiencing their third successive
heatwave, pro-growth campaign group Britain Remade has set its
sights on cooling the nation's homes - by allowing housebuilders
to install air conditioning in new build homes.
While extreme heat warnings are likely to become more common due
to climate change in the coming years, governments to date have
done little on “climate adaptation” - making Britain more
resilient in the face of increasing global temperatures. Making
it easier to install air conditioning, while taking advantage of
Britain's increasing amount of clean energy, is a no brainer.
Rigid building rules and outdated energy efficiency ratings stand
in the way of widespread adoption of air conditioning through
air-to-air heat pumps that can cool as well as warm a property.
Building regulations designed to prevent 'overheating' are
blocking housebuilders from installing air conditioning in most
new builds. Instead, builders have to rely on “passive means of
limiting unwanted solar gains and removing excess heat.” Simply
put, this means new homes are built with prison cell windows and
cooling must be done by opening windows.
In London it is even worse. All major developments in our
nation's capital are refused planning permission unless they
undertake expensive heat modelling. New build flats have
significantly less floor space as a result of a London Plan
requirement to maximise cooling by having windows on multiple
walls. This can push up the cost of building a new home in London
by 40%.
Even though persuading consumers to switch their heating system
from dirty gas to clean electricity is a key part of Britain's
Net Zero strategy, households installing heat pumps that can cool
(as well as heat) not only miss out on £7,500 heat pump grants
via the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, they face a financial penalty due
to the Government's bias against air conditioning.
Homeowners installing air-to-air heat pumps are at risk of
missing out on cheaper 'green' mortgage rates due to outdated EPC
rules.
Because many air-to-air heat pumps are not included in the
database used for assessing energy ratings, it is assumed that
they are only as efficient as old-fashioned space heaters - three
times less efficient than they actually are.
From 2028, it will be illegal to let a property with an EPC
rating of D or less deterring landlords from installing
Given that from 2030 at least 95% of Britain's electricity will
come from clean energy, including an abundant amount from solar,
restricting the installation of air conditioning via air-to-air
heat pumps is indefensible. By 2035 Britain will be generating 15
GW more clean energy than today's peak demand. This energy could
easily be used to cool Britain's homes at a time when
temperatures are increasing.
, CEO of Britain Remade,
said:
“It's madness that when heatwaves are becoming more common, we're
still stopping housebuilders from fitting modern, efficient air
conditioning. These rules were written for a cooler climate and a
dirtier grid - neither of which exist anymore.
“Air-to-air heat pumps can heat homes in winter and cool them in
summer, all while running on clean electricity. But instead of
encouraging them, our planning and building rules tie
housebuilders up in red tape and force them to build smaller,
more expensive homes that are harder to live in.
“Britain needs to grow - and that means building homes that are
ready for the changing climate of the future. Our homes should be
an oasis from the heatwaves to come: it's time to ditch the
outdated regulations and clear the way for cool Britannia.”
, Shadow Energy Secretary,
said:
“‘Brits can't be the only people not allowed aircon because
bureaucrats in ivory towers think it uses too much energy. That
is exactly the kind of poverty mindset we need to bin. Let's make
our energy policy fit what the country wants to do, not the other
way round. Let's make Britain cool again!”
ENDS
NOTES TO EDITORS
For media interviews contact Jason Brown on jbrown@britainremade.co.uk
or call 07595367909
Policy recommendations
Britain Remade is calling for the Government to shift to a
pro-air conditioning approach, by:
- Including cooling air-to-air heat pumps in the government's
schemes to promote heat pump uptake
- Allowing more floorspace and bigger windows by allowing new
build homes to meet building regulations on overheating through
air conditioning
- Changing energy efficiency rules to recognise the efficiency
of air-to-air heat pumps, making the households that use them
eligible for cheaper mortgages
