The global renewable energy industry has reacted angrily to the government’s proposals to water down green commitments for new-build properties.  The government is proposing to scrap the 2008 Planning and Energy Act which gave local authorities the freedom to set their own carbon, renewables and energy efficiency targets for new-build properties.

The latest Housing Standards review issued by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) notes that “it is no longer appropriate for local plan policies to specify additional standards for how much of the energy use from homes should come from on-site renewables”.

The document continues: “The government considers that with this proposed new approach, it will need to consider the role of the Planning and Energy Act 2008…the government considers that the Act may need to be amended or removed.”

The renewables industry had already expressed frustration at the recently updated Building Regulations which weakened carbon reduction targets and, even in DCLG’s eyes, failed to sufficiently incentivise on-site renewables. The proposal to remove the Planning and Energy Act will therefore remove local authorities’ only tool to incentivise the take up of on-site renewables.

REA chief executive Dr Nina Skorupska explained: “How can a government claiming to support both localism and renewable energy suggest doing away with the only policy tool that enables local authorities to promote the use of renewables in new housing?

“It is cheaper to install renewables during construction rather than retrofit, and doing so means the occupants can benefit from lower energy bills from day one. The government should be seeking to future proof new housing against rising energy prices and make it fit for the 21st century.”

China has pushed hard to find a cleaner way of powering buildings, but much of its efforts end up wasted.

In a recently completed assessment study, researchers from China and the United States examined the performance of more than 40 Chinese buildings that deployed renewable energy solutions. By tracking real-time data during the past two years, researchers found that most projects failed to generate environmental and economic benefits as anticipated.

“Less than one-fifth of the buildings equipped with solar energy solutions met their targets. The performance of those with large-scale solar water heaters and geothermal heat pumps was even worse,” said Tan Hongwei. He is the team leader of the study and a professor at Shanghai’s Tongji University.

Since the examined buildings are scattered across China and ranged from public facilities like schools to commercial office buildings, Tan said that the group appears to represent the general situation in the field.

China has a strong interest in integrating renewable energy in buildings, as they now consume more energy than the nation’s three largest heavy industries — iron, steel and cement — combined.

Well-intentioned policies meet smog

To cut the building sector’s demand for coal, Chinese policymakers have financed technology innovations, subsidized pilot projects and issued supportive policies, including the mandatory use of solar water heaters in sun-rich areas starting next year.

The goal: By the end of the decade, solar, geothermal and other renewable energy will contribute to 15 percent of the total energy use in China’s new buildings. There are no statistics available on the current percentage, but Tan of Tongji University noted that hundreds of pilot projects are already established in the country.

“As more and more Chinese buildings are adopting renewable energy solutions, it is crucial to figure out how the pilot projects function and what problems exist,” Tan said, referring to the purpose of launching the study.

Through the assessment study, the first of its kind in China, researchers discovered that many Chinese pilot projects underperformed because of design flaws, poor construction and inefficient incentive mechanisms, among other causes.

One case in point is building integrated photovoltaic projects, which produce electricity from solar panels installed to replace conventional materials in parts of the building envelope like the roof or facades. According to the study, the electricity production of the solar panels was calculated on average sunshine in the region, but the projects are often located in downtown, where air pollution weakens sunlight and the resulting power output.