Zero Bills Homes: a new building standard for residential construction? With Nigel Banks and Emma Fletcher (Octopus Energy)

In this episode we're talking about Zero Bills Homes, so we welcome back Nigel Banks, this time accompanied by his Octopus colleague Emma Fletcher*.

We're not directly talking Fabric Fifth again but the concept is central to the Octopus zero bills strategy i.e. prioritising decarbonising energy use and reducing the cost of energy use rather than focusing on reducing energy demand through fabric measures. As before, basic fabric standards are required in order to make the proposition financially viable.

As you might imagine, Jeff was keen to dig into the technical and performance side, so Nigel explains what’s going on in the standard and what they know about how well it’s functioning and Emma fills us in on how it's shaping up to evolve into a building standard in its own right. 

We're particularly keen because—although we might be sceptical, which we discuss—the action that Octopus is initiating will raise standards and will shape expectations that will influence the whole residential construction sector, and could go some way to catalysing the bridging of the skills gap.

*She, too, works at Octopus Energy—she is not an actual octopus.

Notes from the show

• Nigel Banks on Linkedin
• Emma Fletcher on Linkedin
• The Octopus Zero Bills proposition in their own words 
• The Octopus Tenant Power proposition
• Nigel Banks' addressing the embodied carbon question on LinkedIn 
• Link to The Octopus Energy Tech Summit (23rd June)
• The Fabric Fifth ZAP episode from last year

**SOME SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**
We don't actually earn anything from this, and it's quite a lot of work, so we have to promote the day jobs.

• Follow us on the Zero Ambitions LinkedIn page (we still don't have a proper website)
• Jeff and Dan about Zero Ambitions Partners (the consultancy) for help with positioning and communications strategy, customer/user research and engagement strategy, carbon calculations and EPDs – we're up to all sorts
• Subscribe and advertise with Passive House Plus (UK edition here too)
• Check Lloyd Alter's Substack: Carbon Upfront
• Join ACAN
• Join the AECB 
• Join the IGBC
• Check out Her Retrofit Space, the renovation and retrofit platform for women

**END OF SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**