New NZCBS Designation to Recognise Buildings’ Net Zero Progress

The UK Net Zero Carbon Buildings Standard (NZCBS) has created a new designation to enable buildings to verify performance against Version 1 of the Standard’s requirements, even if they are not meeting all of them.

The UK NZCBS Version 1 (the Standard) published on 10 March defines what a building needs to do to be Net Zero Carbon Aligned in the UK. The Standard’s limits are based on the UK’s carbon and energy budgets. Currently, all of its requirements must be met and verified to achieve conformity. Buildings that don’t meet all the requirements cannot claim to be Net Zero Carbon Aligned.

New Designation

For buildings unable to meet the Standard straight away, a new separate Performance Evaluation designation has been introduced.

Designed to help upskill the industry and support plans for buildings to conform in future, the Performance Evaluation will allow buildings to be evaluated against the Standard’s requirements, where they are not able to meet all the requirements to be Net Zero Carbon Aligned.

Launching at the same time as the Standard’s verification in Q2 this year, UK NZCBS Performance Evaluations will require the same level of verification as for a Net Zero Carbon Aligned claim, and the output will indicate how the building is performing across different aspects of the Standard’s requirements.

While not the same status as being Net Zero Carbon Aligned, a verified Performance Evaluation is designed to act as a “building MOT” that shows where attention is needed to meet its requirements and contribute to the evidence base that will inform the future development of the Standard.

Indicative representation of an example Performance Evaluation graphic – currently undergoing further development.

Journey to Net Zero Carbon

David Partridge, Chair of the Governance Board of the UK Net Zero Carbon Buildings Standard, commented: “Performance Evaluations will further drive market transformation towards achieving Net Zero Carbon by 2050. They will allow users to report on their building’s journey to Net Zero Carbon Alignment by measuring and understanding its performance, which also makes them suitable for use in reporting within ESG, legal and regulatory processes.

“This will help to drive the industry towards adopting the Standard’s metrics, resulting in upskilling and verified data collection and a nationally consistent and transparent reporting methodology, which is what the industry has been crying out for.”

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