Last week, the UK Government (representing England and Wales), and the Scottish Government both released statements saying EPCs will remain unchanged until late 2027. To recap, the way Energy Performance Certificates look, how results are graded, and the way they are calculated, are all changing. When it happens, it will be the biggest refresh to EPCs since their creation in 2008.

A fresh set of Home Energy Model User Guides have been published - this will be particularly useful for manufacturers of domestic heating, cooling, hot water, ventilation and renewable systems.

The Senedd has published its response to last year's Approved Document Part L consultation, confirming new energy standards for building sites from 2027. Strictly speaking, FHS doesn't apply in Wales, but this news broadly follows what we're expecting from the UK Government in the coming weeks.

The new Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES) for social housing in England will go live from April 2030. Landlords must ensure all homes comply by this deadline. If a property scores A-C using a current EPC, that's OK. If a property scores A-C under the fabric metric of the new EPC (available from the end of 2026), that's OK. For properties with a D, E, F or G rating, the landlord will need to make improvements to the energy performance.

EPC certificates in England and Wales will be changing from October 2026. There will still be an A-G rating. But the single rating is being replaced with a dashboard of information, primarily focusing on fabric performance.

The Scottish Government has outlined plans to update Technical Handbook Section 6 to scrap SAP and further tighten fabric performance standards. They're calling it a 'PassivHaus equivalent standard'. Specific details and timeframes will be confirmed later this year, with the final ‘Go Live’ date already confirmed as 31st March 2028.

When a SAP calculation spits out unexpected results, the assessor can look through the worksheets and, 99% of the time, they can find the reason and fix it. The Home Energy Model doesn’t produce simple worksheets that assessors can scrutinise, and it doesn’t have a single methodology you can thumb through. So how will we troubleshoot in HEM?

The Government's standard response about the release of the Future Homes Standard has changed recently from 'Autumn 2025' to 'in the coming months'.

This is only going to be exciting for us high-level Home Energy Model nerds, but new Home Energy Model Technical Documents have just been published on the DESNZ website. These docs explain the logic behind HEM.. a bit like the SAP methodology manual.

The Scottish Government has published what EPC Reform is going to look like. SAP assessors are advised to strap in… it could be a bumpy ride! Every EPC in Scotland will need to be redone, using a more complicated assessment tool that isn’t ready yet, with a nation of re-trained SAP assessors attending training courses that haven’t been written yet, signing up to 'new enhanced accreditation scheme requirements' that don’t exist yet.

When the FHS consultation was released in December 2023, there were two other consultations hidden in its shadow. This week's publication is the official response to one of those lesser-spotted policy proposals. In a nutshell, it confirms SAP is definitely going to be retired. HEM will take over as the method for complying with Approved Document Part L. It will also be used for calculating Energy Performance Certificates.

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!

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.

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.

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.

After years of living with a faulty Smart meter, I've just had a replacement one installed. In the UK, 9.6% of Smart meters don't work properly, and it can be difficult to have this rectified by the energy supplier.

Over the years, the performance of PV panels drops. From my own experience, generation can reduce very quickly unless panels are cleaned.

A summary of what is proposed in the UK Government's EPC Reform consultation.