By Simon Hayes

13 August 2014

Imagine a home designed with consumer comfort and sustainability held in equal measure. How do we deliver these values and still ensure affordability? For years there have been different interpretations of what a sustainable house is. Earlier this year, it was announced that the UK standard that defines this for designers is being phased out. The BRE have asked what lessons can be learnt from the Code for Sustainable Homes, and question what a new optional standard for housing might look like.

There are many challenges facing us over the next number of years, and each of them is as valid as the next. Some account for overheating, daylight levels and something as simple as green space.  Although there are a number of important lessons to learn from the code, it appears that its lack of flexibility is the fundamental problem through the industry.

If we agree that the housing shortage quickly needs to be addressed, how can we inform and encourage an uptake in optional standards to ensure high quality houses are delivered across the board? And what should that standard be?

As part of our ongoing blog series, I invite you to download the document located here, and see what the challenges are in the future of sustainable housing.