When you are refurbishing property there is a range of standards you are expected to meet.  Most notable are Decent Homes, Scheme Development Standards (SDS) and Building Regulations.  These ensure homes meet minimum living and thermal standards, and comply with health-and-safety expectations.

As part of the Regulatory Code, housing associations have to demonstrate a commitment to sustainable development.  This means incorporating social, economic and environmental objectives into all decisions and activities.  The environmental performance of existing stock needs to be considered beyond the minimum requirements set out in Decent Homes, SDS and Building Regulations.

Green Street encourages you to go beyond minimum standards.  As a minimum standard, housing associations need to ensure that all homes are decent by 2010.  This means a home that has reasonably modern facilities and services, such as a modern kitchen and bathroom, is in a reasonable state of repair, is fit for human habitation (for instance having access to hot and cold water), and provides effective heating and insulation to help keep residents warm.  The need to meet Decent Homes provides an excellent opportunity to make sure you carry out improvements to reduce environmentally harmful effects.  Such an approach can also increase comfort levels and help people at risk from fuel poverty ? for instance by reducing their heating costs ? and from the possible ill-health effects of living in cold and damp homes.  It can also help reduce long-term maintenance and management costs if tenants are living in a warmer, damp-free home.

Decent Homes probably provides the biggest opportunity for environmental refurbishment.  It affects many areas of a home.  In addition, both SDS and Building Regulations offer opportunities for improved energy efficiency.

Two main voluntary standards guide environmental good practice:  EEBPH focuses specifically on energy improvements and reduced CO2 emissions;  EcoHomes focuses on much wider environmental principles.

The Energy Efficiency Best Practice in Housing Programme (EEBPH) sets out the main standards for energy efficiency that exceed the present Building Regulations and reflect Government targets to reduce CO2 emissions by 60% by 2050.  Some of these are now incorporated into SDS (2003).  It also sets a higher standard that aims to reduce energy use even more. 

Each of the Green Street house types has a model approach based on EEBPH, highlighting a package to improve energy efficiency and meeting these targets.

EcoHomes is an environmental assessment method that measures the potential environmental impacts of new and existing housing.  EcoHomes forms part of the Building Research Establishment?s BREEAM suite. 

EcoHomes sets standards to reduce negative impacts of housing on energy, water, pollution, materials, health and well-being, transport and land use, and ecology.  A ?pass?, ?good?, ?very good? or ?excellent? standard can be achieved.  Green Street incorporates information on this standard

The Housing Corporation currently expects all new-build schemes it funds to achieve an EcoHomes  ?pass?, but recommends ?good?.  It does not yet require housing associations to achieve EcoHomes when refurbishing properties.  This may change in the future.

In fact almost 50 policy areas from Government and the Housing Corporation link to environmental refurbishment.   For a comprehensive listing of these, along with the tools available to implement them, visit http://www.routestosustainability.org.uk/.