Agenda item

Gareth Bradford introduced the report and reminded the Board that the proposals were linked to the work of the Environment and Energy Board.

Rachel-Ann Atterbury presented the report which updated the Board on the progress being made under its Zero Carbon Homes Work Programme.

Councillor Ian Courts welcomed the report and reminded the Board of the importance of the proposals and highlighted a central issue around the financial implications which would vary from site to site.  He reminded the Board that cost savings could be identified throughout the manufacturing process and suggested that exemplars be identified and that an increase in the scale of production would assist in driving down unit cost. He stressed the links with the Boards proposals on Advanced Manufacturing in Construction (AMC). He asked if further details could be provided to a future meeting on the cost structure of the proposals and added that retro fitting could also be considered at a later stage. The Chair asked if there were any examples available of a volume house builder using zero carbon and whether comparison exercises could be undertaken.

Councillor Jacqueline Sweetman endorsed the comments now made and advised that the City of Wolverhampton Council was keen to see examples of the economies of scale which could be sought out on AMC and zero. She asked for sight of the various cost breakdowns.

The Chair queried whether developers could be encouraged to build more Zero Carbon Homes via an implied condition in the financial support provided by the WMCA. Gareth Bradford reminded the Board that the provision of AMC properties was now a requirement of the Single Commissioning Framework for larger sites and had been successful in bringing such units forward.  He suggested that the various points now raised should be raised at the next meeting of the industry led Zero Carbon Homes Task Force with a response being presented to a future meeting.

Councillor Ian Courts referred to paragraph 2.3 of the report insofar as it related to ‘meeting net zero whole life carbon being aspirational’. He commented that this would be an aspiration but that developers were endeavouring to become carbon neutral in a number of ways and gave the example in the reduction in the number of skips on development sites where Advanced Manufacturing in Construction were used.

Resolved:

1.    That the principles and format of the Zero Carbon Homes Charter as set out in Appendix A to the report be approved;

2.    That the contents of the Zero Carbon Homes Routemap as set out in Appendix B to the report be approved;

3.    That the proposal to launch the Zero Carbon Homes Charter and Routemap in 2021 (date to be confirmed) be approved;

4.    That the excellent support from local authority Officers on the Zero Carbon Homes Working Group and the industry led Zero Carbon Homes Task Force in formulating the Charter and Routemap be noted;

5.    That delegated authority be granted to the Director of Housing and Regeneration, in consultation to the Portfolio Holder for Housing and Land to agree the final versions of the Charter and Routemap (ready for publication);

6.    That the various points raised in the discussion be referred to the industry led Zero Carbon Homes Task Force for consideration with a response being presented to a future meeting.