Government's Green housing plan under fire as developers claim it is 'unworkable'

• Ministers want tough standards to slash the carbon footprint of new homes 
• Housing bosses believe a deadline for the first changes this year is unrealistic 
• Developers will be banned from connecting properties to the gas grid 
• They will be encouraged to roll out air-source heat pumps, solar panels and better insulation

Developers say the preferred option would probably require them to stop using gas heating systems and use air-source heat pumps instead. But the HBF said the annual output of these pumps is just 38,000, against 250,000 homes built in 2019. It also says there are only around 900 registered heat pump engineers.

https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/markets/article-8084233/Developers-claim-Governments-Green-housing-plan-unworkable.html

But WHY do they think you need to be a "registered heat pump engineer" to fit them?

 

Yes you need an F gas ticket to gas a split system. So fit a monoblock heat pump and you only need an electrician and a plumber.

 

Or is this more UK "lets bury the problem in extra paperwork" nonsense?

Does seem crazy to me.  If I could install a heat pump in a few hours, with zero experience of installing one before, then any competent plumber/heating engineer/electrician could install one.  They are less complex than installing and commissioning a boiler, and, unlike a boiler, they need no specialist equipment to install.

 

The one area where heat pumps need a different approach is in sizing them, and the heating system, in order to give good performance.  For most new builds this should be easy, and not something that would have been done by a heating engineer, anyway, in all probability.

The title gives it Away:

"developers claim..."

They will also claim that extra insualtion will damage the nearby living bat population and that 450.000£ for a 65sqm 2bed counts as affordable housing if needed.

On 08/03/2020 at 12:31, ProDave said:

Or is this more UK "lets bury the problem in extra paperwork" nonsense?

 

Doesn't paperwork sequester carbon in the paper?

On 15/03/2020 at 17:44, Ferdinand said:

Doesn't paperwork sequester carbon in the paper?

Only if you bury the paper underground when you're done with it.

1 hour ago, Mike said:

Only if you bury the paper underground when you're done with it.

Or store it with the Ark of the Covenant.