The Department of Business, Energy & Industrial strategy (BEIS) released a new consultation last week looking at how boiler installation regulations could be improved.
With the help of the Heating & Hotwater Industry Council (HHIC), BEIS are hoping to engage directly with installers through a short and easy-to-complete survey.
Training centres – play your part
Training centres are in a unique position to help installers express their views, so please do publicise the consultation and encourage anyone coming through your doors to take the survey.
‘Heat in Buildings: The Future of Heat – Domestic Buildings’
The consultation follows recommendations made to BEIS in the HHIC paper ‘Boiler Plus – The next step in heating regulation’ and asks for views on options for raising domestic boiler standards. The government is also seeking evidence on the costs and benefits of wider domestic and non-domestic central heating system performance improvements.
The consultationproposes that appropriate time, temperature and weather compensation heating controls are installed in residential properties at the time a new boiler is installed and that this is mandated in Building Regulations.
HHIC is part of the Energy and Utilities Alliance (EUA), a not-for-profit trade association that provides a leading industry voice to help shape the future policy direction within the energy sector.
Stewart Clements, Director of HHIC, said:
“As an industry, we have worked collaboratively to help bring this consultation to the market place, and I am pleased that the key ideas outlined by HHIC have been adopted by BEIS.
We know that changing Building Regulations in 2005 to mandate that all domestic gas boiler installations should use a condensing boiler remains one of the most successful government interventions into the residential energy market to date and I believe that mandating the installation of time and temperature controls with new boiler installations will prove equally successful.
Adopting this policy will, at little additional cost to consumers and government, make a valuable contribution towards achieving the ambitious targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and reduce energy consumption which will reduce household energy bills.
Currently, we install 1.6 million new gas boilers per year and if each of these boilers was accompanied by a full suite of heating controls the carbon and monetary savings made would be substantial. I am pleased that HHIC could be instrumental in getting BEIS to investigate this option.”
Installers can complete the survey by visiting: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/thefutureofheat
Or to read the consultation in full please visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/heat-in-buildings-the-future-of-heat
The consultation closes on 27 January 2017 at 5pm.