Construction falling short on energy efficiency

The construction industry is not on track to meet its commitment to improve the energy efficiency of the UK’s existing housing stock, according to the latest report, by the Construction Leadership Council (CLC), on the sector’s response to the net zero challenge. Launched during Construction Week last month, the CLC’s quarterly Construct Zero Performance Framework […]

The construction industry is not on track to meet its commitment to improve the energy efficiency of the UK’s existing housing stock, according to the latest report, by the Construction Leadership Council (CLC), on the sector’s response to the net zero challenge.

Launched during Construction Week last month, the CLC’s quarterly Construct Zero Performance Framework provides a sector-level dashboard on progress around nine identified net zero priorities. It says the sector is not on track to deliver the framework’s target for 11.13 million homes to reach an Energy Performance Certificate C rating by 2035.

The report states that ‘more work is needed’ to meet targets that all new buildings will be designed with a low carbon heating solution from 2025, and that half of all housing stock will be connected to such heat sources by 2035.

It also gives a mixed verdict on the industry’s performance on shifting the construction workforce to use zero-emission vehicles and onsite plant. The sector is not on track to deliver the target of 70% of new vans being electric vehicles by 2030.