The Code for Sustainable Homes

On 13 December 2006, the Code for Sustainable Homes - a new national standard for sustainable design and construction of new homes - was launched by the department for Communities and Local Government (CLG). Since the 1st of May the developer of any new home in England has to have a mandatory rating against the Code.

The Code measures the sustainability of a new home against nine design categories of sustainable design, rating the 'whole home' as a complete package - these categories are Energy/CO₂, water, materials, surface water run-off, waste, pollution, health and well-being, management and ecology.

Minimum standards for Code compliance have been set above the requirements of Building Regulations. It is intended that the Code will signal the future direction of Building Regulations in relation to carbon emissions from, and energy use in homes, providing greater regulatory certainty for the homebuilding industry.

The Code uses a 1 to 6 star rating system to communicate the overall sustainability performance of a new home. The Code sets minimum standards for energy and water use at each level, providing valuable information to home buyers, and offering builders a tool with which to differentiate themselves in sustainability terms.

The levels of energy efficiency for the code (standard percentage better than Part L1A of the 2006 Building Regulations) are:

Code level 1 - 10%
Code level 2 - 18%
Code level 3 - 25%
Code level 4 - 44%
Code level 5 - 100%
Code level 6 - zero carbon

Recently we have launched a suite of publications that provide guidance and solutions to meeting the energy efficiency requirements of level 3, level 4 and levels 5&6 of the Code for Sustainable Homes.

To download our guidance to the Code for Sustainable Homes, please see:

Energy Efficiency and the Code for Sustainable Homes level 3 (CE290)

Energy Efficiency and the Code for Sustainable Homes level 4 (CE291) 

Energy Efficiency and the Code for Sustainable Homes level 5&6 (CE292)

You can also read our code guidance FAQ section by clicking here.

To download the Communities and Local Government (CLG) technical guide click here.

For a full index of other publications available to download, please see: Energy efficiency is best practice (CE279)