I often get asked how Infrared panel heaters compare to standard convective heaters For Part L compliance. I know, I get asked all the fun questions!

The Welsh Government has released a consultation looking to change Approved Documents Part L, Part O and Part F, following in the footsteps of the Future Homes Standard policy in England. You've got until 17th November 2025 to respond.

Could regulation targeting the embodied carbon of construction be heading for the UK? The Government has confirmed it's looking into creating a standard way of assessing and reporting. Other countries in Europe have recently announced plans to roll out legislation to shift focus to lowering the embodied carbon from buildings.

DESNZ has published an absolute bucketload of stats this week about the UK's electricity mix and fossil fuel supplies. In one line, we're moving in the right direction, but we've still got some way to go before we're in Net Zero territory!

When an overheating assessor builds a 3D model of a development, they apply a Weather File to simulate a years’ worth of sunlight, wind and humidity. This climate data interacts with the building’s solar gains, air flow and thermal mass to calculate hourly internal temperatures, which ultimately gives us a Pass or a Fail for Approved Document Part O and TM59 assessments. CIBSE has recently published new weather files, based on more recent weather patterns and latest data.

Two new consultations into the future use of hydrogen have been published. One considers how we could build new infrastructure to specifically provide hydrogen energy to large industrial hubs. The second revisits old ground, and considers how we pump blend hydrogen into our existing mains gas supply.

This consultation gives details for what the new EPC metrics may prioritise when assessors switch to the Home Energy Model. Fabric performance is likely to become the primary metric. It's highly possible that the whole of the UK will adopt a similar strategy in the coming years.

I had a very busy time at the Installer Show last week at the NEC in Birmingham. I met up with fellow SAP assessors (thanks to Triton Shower), saw a full-scale PassivHaus in the exhibition hall, and bumped into the comedian Dara O'Briain, and had a quick chat about tortoises.

A few weeks ago, I was at the Daikin Collaboration Event in Birmingham, guest speaking alongside Charlotte Lee from the UK Heat Pump Association and David Adams from the Future Homes Hub.

Ed Miliband has confirmed that PV will be 'almost universal with rare exceptions' on all new homes. The details will be defined when the new Approved Document Part L is published later this year, and applied to new sites from late 2026.

The UK Government is considering streamlining the planning process for small developments to speed up the process for one-off projects. Current requirements like biodiversity, Section 106 and Build Out Transparency would be removed from small sites.

This proposed change to national planning policy would include a requirement for sites of 50+ dwellings to submit a build schedule as part of the planning application, and for developers to inform the council if timeframes are slipping.

House of Commons committee gives blunt but honest review of the current EPC process, and calls for reform to improve the accuracy of the information on the energy certificates.

The London Plan is being updated next year. In our world, this will likely mean stricter targets on embodied lifecycle and net zero targets, but will the Future Homes Standard influence the final text?

Car parks across England may need to have solar panel canopies installed under new proposals to increase renewable power generation.

When Part L changes next year, there will be two routes to compliance - using SAP10.3, or the new Home Energy Model. This allows HEM a chance to bed in, and means industry can continue using the familiar SAP tools for a while longer.

It's being reported that solar panels will be mandated on all new homes as part of the UK Government's Future Homes Standard policy; due for publication later this year.

Was the BBC right to force its presenter to quit a podcast that promoted heat pumps? Are heat pumps at risk of political bias because of their links with net zero? This truly is a baffling decision by a respected media outlet that should know better.