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Homes account for 27% of carbon emissions produced in the UK. Each household produces around 1.54 tonnes of CO₂ per year. Improving the energy efficiency of homes is the most cost effective way of reducing carbon emissions and cutting down on the amount of fossil fuels we use.

At present the Code is voluntary for private housing but all new public housing must achieve a Code level 3. Increasingly it is becoming a condition of planning permission for new housing developments to achieve Code level 3.

The Code can be used to assess single dwellings as well as sites containing multiple houses and apartments.

The governments’ aims are that the code will ultimately be the single standard used for the design and construction of sustainable homes in the UK.

The table below shows the governments 10 year plan and what it will mean for dwellings in the UK.

Date	2010	2013	2016
Energy efficiency improvement of the dweling compared to 2006 (Part L)	25%	44%	Zero Carbon
Equivalent standard within the code	Level 3	Level 4	Level 6

 

As with BREEAM there are nine sections each divided into a number of issues which are weighted differently. The table below shows the number of credits in each category and their weightings.

Environmental Impact Categories	No of Credits in Category	Environmental Weighting factor (as % of total possible points score available
Category 1 - Energy / CO2	29 credits	36.4%
Category 2 - Water	26 credits	9%
Category 3 - Materials	24 credits	7.2%
Category 4 - Surface water run-off	4 credits	2.2%
Category 5 - Waste	7 credits	6.4%
Category 5 - Pollution	4 credits	2.8%
Category 7 - Health & well being	12 credits	14.0%
Category 8 - Management	9 credits	10.0%
Category 9 - Ecology	9 credits	12.0%
Total	104 credits	100.00%

 

The Code for Sustainable Homes replaced Ecohomes in 2008. The old rating system which awarded a Pass, Good, Very Good or Excellent was replaced by a system where a building can achieve a Level 1 to Level 6 rating.

The points achieved and their equivalent ratings are shown below.

 

Code Levels	Total Points Score (equal to or greater than)
Level 1 (*)	36 Points
Level 2 (**)	48 Points
Level 3 (***)	57 Points
Level 4 (****)	68 Points
Level 5 (*****)	84 Points
Level 6 (******)	90 Points

The table below shows how the new Code for Sustainable Homes rating compare with the old Ecohomes ratings and other standards.

Codel Level	Compairson with other standards
Level 1	Above Regulatory Standares Similar to Ecohomes Pass Similar standard to EST's (Energy Saving Trust) Good Practice Standard for Energy Efficiency
Level 2	Similar standard to Ecohomes Good
Level 3	Similar to Ecohomes Very Good Similar to EST's Best Practice Standard for Energy Efficiency
Level 4	Current exemplary performance
Level 5	Exemplary performance with high standards of energy & water efficiency
Level 6	Aspirational standard based on zero carbon emissions for the dwelling & high performance across all environmental categories

Useful Links

Breeam 2011 Updates
Breeam 2011 Updates - Frequently Asked Questions

 

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