§ Mr. DrewTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions when he expects part L of the building regulations to come into force. [152172]
§ Ms Beverley HughesI refer my hon. Friend to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Minister for Housing and Planning to my hon. Friend the Member for Warwick and Leamington (Mr. Plaskitt) on 5 March 2001,Official Report, columns 60–61W, in which he announced the intention to amend Part L of the Building Regulations in August this year. These amendments should come into force six months later, in February 2002.
§ Mr. DrewTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions (1) what the average consumption is of energy in kilowatt hours per square metre of new homes built to existing building regulations in(a) England and Wales, (b) Sweden, (c) Germany, (d) Denmark and (e) the Netherlands; and what will happen in England and Wales following the proposed changes to Part L of the building regulations; [152170]
(2) if he will make a statement on the most recent changes to energy conservation standards in building regulations in each EU member state. [152171]
§ Ms Beverley HughesMy Department does not systematically collect data on the development of energy efficient building regulations in all member states. However, in 1998, a study of the standards in Denmark, Germany, Holland and Sweden was commissioned as a preliminary to the current review of energy conservation standards in England and Wales. The results of these investigations were published in January 1999. Our proposals for improving standards published in last summer's consultation document took these results into account, and would keep us broadly in line with NW Europe while remaining proportionate in our national efforts to control carbon emissions from buildings without running excessive risks of construction defects.
We do not have data on the average consumption of energy in kilowatt hours per square metre of new homes built to existing building regulations in Sweden, Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands. With regard to England and Wales, and in answer to a question from my hon. Friend the Member for Warwick and Leamington 152W (Mr. Plaskitt) on 5 March 2001, Official Report, columns 60–61W, my right hon. Friend the Minister for Housing and Planning indicated the fabric insulation performance standard we propose to introduce as a result of the review of Part L of the Building Regulations. The table gives an indication of the average energy consumption of an indicative new home in the UK built to the current Building Regulations, and of one built to the proposed new standards.
For a new semi-detached dwelling in England and Wales having a floor area of 80 m2 and gas fired central heating Requirements Average annual delivered energy consumption per square metre of floor area for heating and hot water kWh/m2 pa Current (1995) 136.6 As announced on 5 March as intended to come into effect in February 2002 103.4