GTC
Chiltern Woods Community Health
Future Homes Standard: Why utility planning must become part of the Housebuilder’ s strategy
By Adam Tkacz, Business Development Director – Sustainable Heat, GTC
The publication of the Future Homes Standard has finally given housebuilders the clarity they have been waiting for. From 24 March 2027, new homes in England will be required to meet higher energy-efficiency standards and use low-carbon heating, marking a significant shift away from fossilfuel-based heating.
For housebuilders, the challenge is about more than just selecting a replacement for the gas boiler. The transition to lowcarbon heating fundamentally changes the relationship between housing delivery, energy demand, and utility infrastructure.
Heat electrification will increase electricity demand, particularly as heat pumps become standard in new homes. The Government’ s own analysis recognises that electrification of heat will place additional demands on the electricity network. This means the question of how a development will be heated can no longer be considered in isolation from how it will be connected to and operate within the local electricity network. This is where utility planning needs to evolve.
Historically, utilities have often been treated as a relatively straightforward part of the development process: establish the requirements, secure connections and install infrastructure. The Future Homes Standard makes that approach more difficult. Developers now need to consider not simply how much electricity a development will consume, but when that demand will occur and how it can be managed.
The distinction between total demand and peak demand is particularly important. A development may have significant overall energy requirements without creating the same level of pressure on the network if demand can be managed intelligently. Technologies such as thermal storage, smart controls and networked heating systems can provide greater flexibility, shifting energy use away from periods of peak demand.
This presents housebuilders with an opportunity to take a more strategic approach to infrastructure from the outset.
There is no single technology that will be right for every development. Individual air source heat pumps will have an important role to play, but networked approaches can also provide an effective route to low-carbon heating, particularly where developers are considering the electricity infrastructure requirements of an entire site rather than individual plots.
Community and networked heating
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