Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that new housing developments are powered by renewable energy sources.

Building Regulations set demanding energy performance targets for new buildings, but without prescribing the materials or technologies to be used. This approach gives builders the freedom to innovate and to choose the most practical and cost-effective solutions for individual projects.

The standards were strengthened most recently in April 2014, to a level that means builders increasingly have to consider the use of renewable technologies in their designs. These could be solar panels, or they could be other types of renewable such as heat pumps and combined heat and power (CHP) boilers – which might be more acceptable in conservation areas.