After an eight-year hiatus, building energy regulations have finally started to catch up with the low- and zero-carbon aspirations of architects and many of their clients.

Commercial developers including Land Securities, British Land and Grosvenor have announced that they want their property portfolios to be net zero carbon by 2030 while, for many years, local authorities including the Greater London Authority (GLA) have required new developments to improve on Part L requirements as a condition of planning approval.

Part L, which regulates heating, lighting and hot water energy use in buildings, is still lagging behind, with the last major revision in 2013. A proposed, radical update for 2016 was dropped in favour of a few tweaks to the wording of the regulations.

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