British Glass                            SBE0032

Written evidence from British Glass

British Glass is the representative body for the UK glass manufacturing industry. For the purposes of this inquiry, our responses relate specifically to our flat glass (windows/glazing) manufacturing members. Glass is an infinitely recyclable material, with no loss of quality and the perfect circular economy product. It has a crucial role to play as we look to live more sustainably and move towards net zero emissions by 2050.

The UK has three flat glass manufacturers: Guardian Glass, Pilkington and Saint-Gobain Glass, all based in the north of England. Together, they support more than a thousand jobs and efficiently produce high-quality, British-made glass for the domestic and international glazing markets. British Glass – with its flat glass manufacturing members – has set out an ambitious, two-part strategy on flat glass.

1. The role of glazing in improving the energy efficiency of buildings and reducing carbon emissions.
2. Improving the rate of flat glass recycling, which is at present significantly worse than the container glass sector (bottles, jars etc.)

To what extent have the Climate Change Committee’s recommendations on decarbonising the structural fabric of new homes been met?

• British Glass support measures outlined in the government’s reform to building regulations, the Future Homes Standard, to improve the fabric performance of new buildings.
• We call for windows on new build homes to have a U value of at least 1.4 or EPR B.

How can materials be employed to reduce the carbon impact of new buildings, including efficient heating and cooling, and which materials are most effective at reducing embodied carbon?

• The carbon emitted in the production of new flat glass for glazing can be offset carbon within 6-20 months by the energy efficiency savings it delivers.
• The glass industry has dramatically improved furnace efficiency over recent decades.

What role can nature-based materials can play in achieving the Government’s net zero ambition?

• No comment.

What role can the planning system, permitted development and building regulations play in delivering a sustainable built environment? How can these policies incentivise developers to use low carbon materials and sustainable design?

• We support changes to Part L of the Building Regulations as part of the Future Homes Standard.
• This will set higher standards for glazing efficiency (U value of 1.4) which will deliver energy and carbon savings.

What methods account for embodied carbon in buildings and how can this be consistently applied across the sector?

• No comment.

Should the embodied carbon impact of alternative building materials take into account the carbon cost of manufacture and delivery to site, enabling customers to assess the relative impact of imported versus domestically sourced materials?

• Embodied carbon is a complex subject and further thought and consultation is required on how measures can be practically implemented.

How well is green infrastructure being incorporated into building design and developments to achieve climate resilience and other benefits?

• No comment.

How should we take into account the use of materials to minimise carbon footprint, such as use of water harvesting from the roof, grey water circulation, porous surfaces for hardstanding, energy generation systems such as solar panels?

• No comment

How should re-use and refurbishment of buildings be balanced with new developments?

• From the perspective of the glass indusrty, we do not take a view on the balance between refub/new build. That said, we support high standards of window efficiency on both refurb and new build projects. As we have set out, we recommend minimum efficiency standards for new windows of U1.4 or EPR B.

What can the Government do to incentivise more repair, maintenance and retrofit of existing buildings?

• British Glass believe that a new incentive scheme is required to encourage homeowners to replace old, inefficient double glazing following the cancellation of the Green Homes Grant voucher scheme.
• Any new scheme must permit spend on new double glazing as a primary measure, something the GHG voucher scheme did not allow.
• Double glazing has been on the market for decades. Older double glazing is highly inefficient compared to modern standards. The U value of double glazing the 1970s was U compared to U1.6 today.
• Government should already understand that newer glazing delivers significant energy efficiency gains, as it has stipulated more stringent efficiency standards for windows in the Future Homes Standard.
• The carbon emitted in the production of new glazing can be offset within 6-20 months by the energy efficiency savings it delivers.

May 2021