Two industry milestones in the battle to reduce carbon

Two industry milestones in the battle to reduce carbon signal big changes – and a massive opportunity for sales and sustainability – say BMBI Experts

The fight to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and embodied carbon in construction has been advanced considerably in recent months by two industry milestones. The first was an update from Heidelberg Materials that its Padeswood project to produce the world’s first carbon captured near-zero cement on an industrial scale is powering ahead. The second, the long-awaited Future Homes Standard (FHS), published in March, was greeted with cheering and recognition that it is already influencing building practice and specifications.

According to industry experts from the Building Merchants Building Index (BMBI) the FHS requires new products, collaboration and a new approach to building, for both new and existing properties:

Paul Haines, Baxi: “The UK’s inefficient housing stock has a median EPC rating of Band D. We must retrofit millions of homes and deliver hundreds of thousands of new ones, with low-carbon heating at their core to meet Net Zero by 2050. This is not swapping components; it’s systemic transformation and success hinges on deep collaboration. Developers need partners to co-design integrated systems that deliver low-temperature performance, simplify installation, and reduce risk. Transparent lifecycle data, low-carbon materials, and smart controls are essential.”

Matt Williams, Polypipe: “The Future Homes Standard mandates a 75-80% reduction in carbon emissions for new dwellings, effectively signalling the end of the gas boiler era in favour of Air Source Heat Pumps (ASHPs). The industry is seeing a shift in procurement patterns that suggests housebuilders are moving from planning to practice with the most telling indicator being the recent uptick in demand for larger diameter piping systems.

“While 10mm has been the domestic standard for decades, we are witnessing a marked increase in 15mm feeds. This is a direct response to the physics of low-carbon heating. Because heat pumps operate at lower flow temperatures (typically under 55°C), they require a higher flow rate to deliver the same thermal energy. To maintain efficiency and avoid system noise or pump strain, larger internal pipe diameters are essential.

“By embracing larger diameter systems today, housebuilders are ensuring homes are truly “zero-carbon ready,” providing homeowners with efficient, future-proofed comfort.”

Neil Hargreaves, Knauf Insulation: “Over its lifetime, the now cancelled ECO scheme delivered improved insulation in over a million homes, yet recent quality issues driven by poor scheme design and oversight must be corrected if its just-published replacement, the Warm Homes Plan, is to deliver for households.

“Signs for optimism include a reformed Energy Performance Certificate that may allow installers to differentiate their work on quality rather than just price. A concern remains though that the Plan may jump to solely deploying alternative technologies such as heat pumps. A well-insulated home is a comfortable, affordable, low-energy home. Insulation must remain central to any Warm Homes Plan.”

Derrick McFarland, Keystone: “Although the Future Homes Standard was delayed, its increased focus on building fabric and reducing heat loss is already influencing specification decisions. Practical, fabric-first solutions such as Keystone’s Hi-Therm lintels provide a straightforward, low-cost way for housebuilders to improve thermal performance while preparing for future requirements.”

Andrew Simpson, Heidelberg Materials: “Our project in Padeswood to produce the world’s first carbon captured near-zero cement on an industrial scale is powering ahead, and we expect the facility to be operational by 2029. To promote what we are doing to reduce embodied carbon, we recently opened our evoHub in London where legislators, specifiers and customers can learn about decarbonisation in construction.”

Set up and run by MRA Research, the Builders Merchants Building Index (BMBI) – a brand of the Builders Merchants Federation – is a monthly index of builders’ merchant sales, and the most reliable, up-to-date measure of Repair, Maintenance, and Improvement (RMI) activity in the UK. The index is based on actual sales from NiQ GfK’s Builders’ Merchant Point of Sale Tracking Data, which captures both value and volume sales to builders from generalist builders’ merchants, accounting for 88% of total sales from builders’ merchants throughout Great Britain. An in-depth review, which includes commentary by the BMBI experts, is provided each quarter. The BMF uses this solid statistical foundation as the base for its much-used market forecasts.

The latest BMBI report is available to download now at www.bmbi.co.uk.