AluK has been quick to respond to the updated Future Homes Standard and Part L. The aluminium systems company has created a dedicated website and published a new handy guide which gives fabricators, installers and specifiers all the information they need to ensure they comply with the new rules ahead of the 2027 deadline.
Overall, AluK has welcomed the changes announced to Future Homes on the basis that notional U-Values for windows in the updated Part L are now set at 1.2 W/m2K, which achieves a good balance between efficiency and cost. And it has backed the switch to calculating U-Values using the actual size and configuration of the window rather than the traditional standard test size as a practical way of closing the gap between designed and delivered energy outcomes.
AluK’s new website and downloadable Guide to Future Homes cover the implications of all the changes for customers and specifiers. There is clear guidance on how fabricators will have to calculate the U-Values and what installers will have to do to ensure and document the airtightness of their installations. There is also advice for specifiers on using project specific rather than generic system U-Values and how to align Part L with Part O and Part F.
The guide includes an explanation of how the new rules differ across new build, replacements, extensions and heritage projects and there are pointers to the updated Part L as it applies in Wales, where the 1.4 limiting U-Value for windows in new build is slightly lower than it is England.
The overall timeline for both England and Wales is clearly set out in the guide and there is a summary of the key changes for quick and easy reference.
Crucially, the guide has plenty of reassurance from AluK on the steps that it has already taken to help and support customers – from providing third-party validated Uf values to offering project specific thermal modelling – and a checklist is included of all the AluK products and systems, with their U-Values and compliance status.
Paul Booth, AluK’s Technical Director, commented: “The new Future Homes Standard could be a real step forward in terms of delivering warmer, more efficient homes which are less dependent on fossil fuels. With notional U-Values set at a very achievable 1.2, it represents a great opportunity for the aluminium sector to win a bigger slice of the new build market in particular, and we are doing all we can to help our customers get ahead of the new rules before next year and put themselves in a great position to win new business.”
