We officially launched the Zero Bills Global Housing Standard last night at the Zero Bills Awards in London, a great evening with so many pioneering partners!
octopus.energy/press/octopu...
What standards could you build housing projects to in the UK?
Three options set out here by Savills:
1) Future Homes Standard
2) 🐙 Zero Bills 🐙
3) Passivhaus Standard
Full report here: pdf.euro.savills.co.uk/uk/residenti...
I thought #FabricFifth was a bit punchy, but to those still holding on to #FabricFirst, have a read of this from Michael Barnard: cleantechnica.com/2025/03/27/t...
The UK’s Seventh Carbon Budget level should be set at 535 MtCO2e, an 87% reduction against 1990 levels.
This country has a prosperous and secure future ahead.
The fossil fuel age is over – it’s time to electrify the United Kingdom.
www.theccc.org.uk/2025/02/26/e...
An all electric home with heat pump sCOP 2.83 will have lower bills on price cap rates than gas boiler (85%) for OFGEM typical use (10,500kWh gas; 2700kWh elec).
On smart tariffs & with better sCOPs, heat pump savings are really significant! With some market reform, they would be game changing...
Please do add comments with any other #TopTips to avoid any common pitfalls you've seen with heat pumps in new homes...
www.linkedin.com/pulse/toptip...
This week 18 years ago (Dec 2006), the housing industry welcomed proposals that all new homes will be Zero Carbon.
Yet we are still 2.5 years away from this taking effect... but we can and must go faster (while improving returns).
#FutureHomesStandard #ZeroBills
www.linkedin.com/posts/nigel-...
Here is how daily global surface temperatures have changed since the 1940s.
Note that global temperatures show a modest seasonal cycle due to a higher proportion of land are in the Northern Hemisphere.
Here you go:
Our new van with the door slid open, putting the "O" from Octopus in front of the "rgy" of Energy. Oops.
Hello Bluesky 👋👋👋👋🐙👋👋👋👋
A lot of customers have asked us to swim our way over here, so we're dipping our tentacles in.
Give us a follow, we'll be floating around to chat all things green & geeky, make energy fairer, and own up to van printing disasters:
An issue is V2G capability it is only in high end EVs that can afford the extra cost and weight of an on board inverter right now. Otherwise you need an expensive charger, I think it will come over time but an issue is savings aren't huge as overnight charging is so cheap (£200 for 10,000miles).
Great to be announcing our partnership with Vistry Group - we're already working on dozens of #ZeroBills sites across the UK. You can also hear direct from our CEO Greg Jackson at the #FutureHomesConference tomorrow...
www.linkedin.com/posts/octopu...
Is there an updated version of this amazing chart available anywhere (including 2024)?
This: modoenergy.com/research/car...
And p19 of this: www.leti.uk/_files/ugd/2...
But also there is a big regional variance, see: carbonintensity.org.uk
Batteries are more about saving £s, than pure CO2.
We need 20GWh of storage by 2030 for clean power - this could be done (partially) with home batteries, could be done in just new homes if we built the volume targeted & they were all Zero Bills homes... New UKNZCABS excludes renewables (but not storage?) from carbon calcs partly for this reason
Not seen any recently. We did some at ilke Homes 2 years ago and the payback was quick. The team at Etude may know? They did some work on PV a while ago and wrote it up here: etude.co.uk/how-we-work/...
Key fact: clean energy technologies are vastly more efficient than fossil fuels technologies.
Great visual RMI.
Zero Carbon Homes - promised back in 2006, delayed by another 6 months - wont be fully delivered until the 'end of the decade'...
... but there are actions organisation can take now which are financially advantageous and deliver Zero Carbon Homes.
www.linkedin.com/pulse/23-yea...
The per kg and m3 pyramids are pretty useless, you need to look at the functional unit drop downs as below (as the amount you need is vastly different by material). Even then, these pyramids are flawed as sequestered carbon should be separated out - timber is not carbon negative A1-A3...
My in-law's live in Boro so we head to Redcar (and get a Pacitto's) quite often... I took last week off socials so sorry for late reply!
I was also at Redcar beach today! The moonrise was stunning at high tide…
A BloombergNEF chart of solar module prices vs typical commercial solar module efficiency, by year, 2012-2023. The efficiency increases from 15.4% in 2012 to about 21.3% in 2023. The price falls from $1.09 dollars per W (adjusted for inflation, ie 2023 dollars) in 2012 to $0.13 in 2023.
Pretty cool chart from my team at BloombergNEF. In 2012, the standard solar module was multicrystalline silicon, 15.4% efficient and costing $1.09/W in 2023 $. In 2023, standard is mono PERC, efficiency 21.3%, price $0.13/W.
Fantastic to have a large, 100% #ZeroBills site up and running, with homes available Open Market Sale, Shared Ownership and Affordable Rent!
Kudos to Hill Group and Clarion Group leading the way...
2024 is going to be exciting!
octopus.energy/press/Octopu...
Future Homes Standard Consultation is out... from quick skim (and for those close to it last year) it looks to be similar to contender spec 2, with a choice of with or without solar PV...
www.gov.uk/government/c...
Direct link to event sign up here (just select 'Choose a plan' to sign up for free): meshwork.mesh-energy.com/events/fabri...
Looking forward to discussing 'Fabric Fifth' (www.linkedin.com/pulse/fabric...) with Simon Roberts on Wednesday lunchtime. Join us if you can, sign up details (it's free) are here: www.mesh-energy.com/meshwork
Also "Skate to where the puck is going"
2030 in UK:
- Grid Carbon ⬇️ - Often going to 0️⃣
- Electricity costs ↕ - Variable & often going to 0️⃣
- HP, EVs & 🔋s - 🐙 Smart control built in (use the free, clean ⚡️)
- HP, EV, PV & 🔋 costs ⬇️ - On trend
- Insulation costs & upfront carbon? ⏸️ - Remain high?
Looking forward to a day on the #FutureHomesStandard tomorrow at the #FutureHomesHub Conference at the #TheIET.
Who knows... maybe the consultation will finally be launched!
Will be great to talk #ZeroBills with people too...
"When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do?"
Since 2015 in UK ~
Energy costs ⬆️ 2x (but smart ⬇️ upto 2x)
Grid Carbon Intensity ⬇️ 2x
Heat Pumps sCOPs ⬆️ 1.5x
Insulation costs ⬆️ 2x
Insulation upfront carbon ⏸️ (largely)
PV & Battery costs ⬇️ 3x
PV upfront carbon ⬇️ 2x
Some of this is covered in the FAQs here: octopus.energy/zero-bill-ac...
Essentially we need the homes to generate more than typical use and use the home battery to optimise. So with a higher fabric spec, you need less solar. Part L21 is enough on many homes. Happy to look at any projects...
