The Build Net Zero Now campaign, led by the Good Homes Alliance, aims to empower progressive local authorities, housing associations and housebuilders, and their supply chains, by providing them with the knowledge and tools to deliver net zero housing.
The campaign outputs have proved vital for the 30+ members of our fast-growing Vanguard (Local Authority), Pathfinder (Housing Association) and Net Zero Developer (SME developer) networks from across the UK, who collectively represent 350,000 existing homes and 120,000 new build homes to be developed in the next 10 years.
Entering a third phase this September, the campaign continues into 2023-24 by building upon the success of the previous two phases. Check out some campaign highlights below and please get in touch if you are interested in supporting the campaign – richard@goodhomes.org.uk.
Phase 1 (2020-2022)
Launch of Build Net Zero Now campaign at Good Homes 2020 Conference: A Net Zero Recovery including keynote speaker Baroness Brown of Cambridge, Deputy Chair of the Committee on Climate Change.
Publication of freely available Model Employer’s Requirements and Design Brief Clauses for net zero, health & wellbeing and building performance outcomes. Click here to download
A year-long series of topical events exploring topics such as net zero and embodied carbon, MMC and green finance. The event series culminated in the Build Net Zero Now Conference Series, featuring keynote speaker Julie James MS, Minister for Climate Change, Welsh Government.
Phase 2 (2022-2023)
Phase 2 kindly supported by
A number of themes were identified during the first year of the campaign which warranted further focus during the second phase. The themes (below) reflect the GHA’s holistic approach to sustainable development, as outlined in our manifesto.
ENERGY
FINANCE
PLANNING, DESIGN & PLACEMAKING
The outputs (as mentioned below) will be launched in the autumn of 2023.
ENERGY
For the Energy working group, the output is a comprehensive guide to energy solutions for net zero housing development, exploring topics such as emerging heating and hot water tech; PV, battery storage and EV charging; and smart grids and energy balancing. A 3-part event series, co-hosted with The Green Register exploring these topics took place in June/July 2023 – ‘Energy Solutions for Net Zero Housing Development’.
FINANCE
The Finance working group has developed a ‘mini manifesto’ on how finance should adapt to accelerate the delivery of net zero homes. Plus, a guide to financial incentives (‘The Green Shift’), authored by working group member Rafe Bertram; and an event on ‘Net Zero and Community Led Housing’ featuring Ecology Building Society speaking on their support for community led housing schemes.
PLANNING, DESIGN & PLACEMAKING
For the Planning, Placemaking and Design working group, a new web portal has been developed showcasing the progressive work of local authorities in setting net zero and Passivhaus planning policies. This runs alongside our net zero planning policy workstream including a popular webinar – ‘Local Authorities Leading the Way’.
Succinct guidance on planning will also be created, setting out a holistic approach to planning considerations including urban design, placemaking, biodiversity enhancement and more. From a design viewpoint, this has been has been supported by a 2-part webinar series on How to Design Good Homes, showcasing exemplar case studies of leading architects, designers and consultants from within the GHA membership, including building performance evaluation (BPE) findings.
The theme for our 2022 annual conference was once again focussed on Build Net Zero Now, taking place in-person for the first time since 2019 with debates, expert insight and networking as we discussed the key issues facing the net zero housing agenda.
Phase 3 (2023-2024)
Despite the success of the campaign to date, the need to accelerate the delivery of net zero housing is more urgent than ever. The campaign will continue in 2023-24 and beyond, with proposed outputs for phase 3 including:
Building upon the expert content presented in our Energy mini-guide and event series, we will continue to showcase, and interrogate the viability and performance of, emerging energy solutions through in-person site visits, demonstrations, dissemination of research findings, and case studies.
ENERGY
FINANCE
Using our peer-reviewed manifesto, we will engage with government departments, financial institutions and policy makers to help unlock investment for net zero housing development, both new build and retrofit.
We will produce an annual revision of ‘The Green Shift’ report to update with the latest incentives, statistics and ways forward to accelerate net zero housing development.
Working with our Vanguard Network and partners such as TCPA, Etude and Bioregional, we will track progress of the implementation of progressive net zero planning policies, best practice urban design and placemaking for new housing developments, and share lessons learned with wider industry through case studies and dissemination events.
PLANNING, DESIGN & PLACEMAKING
HOW TO GET INVOLVED
We are looking for a number of progressive organisations to support phase 3 of the campaign and help us in our aim of accelerating net zero housing development.
The sponsorship fee for phase 3 (Sep 2023-Aug 2024) is £3,000 (+VAT). Benefits include speaking opportunities, case studies, recognition in articles to the press, your logo on all campaign outputs, and an invitation to steering group meetings to help scope the next steps of the campaign.
If you are interested in supporting our campaign and would like to discuss further, please contact Richard Broad, Projects & Communications Manager, Good Homes Alliance – richard@goodhomes.org.uk.