Following the Government’s publication of the final Future Homes Standard (FHS) Approved Documents on March 24, Catnic is urging UK housebuilders to prioritise building fabric performance as the 2027 compliance deadline approaches.
The updated regulations require a 75% reduction in carbon emissions for new homes, placing significant pressure on developers to rethink design and specification strategies.
While much of the industry focus has centred on technologies such as heat pumps and solar PV, Catnic warns that overlooking thermal performance at structural openings could leave projects at risk of non-compliance under the new Home Energy Model (HEM).
The “Invisible” Compliance Gap. As insulation levels in walls and roofs continue to improve, heat loss through steel lintels, known as thermal bridging, remains a key performance challenge. These structural junctions can account for a notable proportion of overall heat if not properly addressed.
Catnic’s Thermally Broken Lintel (TBL) range is built to tackle this issue by providing a continuous thermal break between the inner and outer leaf of cavity walls. This patented technology achieves linear thermal transmittance (psi) values as low as 0.02 W/mK, reducing heat loss through window and door heads by up to 96% compared to standard lintels.
“The finalisation of the Future Homes Standard marks the most significant shift in building regulations for a generation,” says Richard Price, Technical Director at Catnic. “Developers now have exactly 12 months until these rules take effect. Specifying thermally broken lintels helps maximise the fabric performance of the building, minimising the reliance on more complex and expensive bolt-on renewable technologies.”
Sustainability at the Core Catnic’s approach to compliance is supported by its wider sustainability commitments, including recycling 100% of its ferrous scrap and working towards eliminating unavoidable site waste to landfill by 2030.
The company says this ensures the products supporting the UK’s transition to lower-carbon homes are manufactured with reduced environmental impact.
For more information on achieving FHS compliance or to use the Catnic PSI Value Calculator, visit PSI Value Calculator for Thermal Performance | Catnic
