Green Building
Manifesto
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T: 020 7580 0623
www.ukgbc.org
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COMMIT TO A 50% CUT
IN CARBON EMISSIONS
FROM THE BUILT
ENVIRONMENT BY 2020
We know how to reduce the emissions cost-
effectively from almost any given home or
building by 50%. Let’s figure out how to
achieve this across the board and view it as
an opportunity to create jobs, improve energy
security and tackle fuel poverty.
Put simply, more sustainable buildings are
better quality buildings. Pursuing an ambitious
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target such as this should not be seen as a
burden, but as an opportunity for industry
and the economy as a whole.
The private sector can and should do more to
make this happen. But we need the certainty
created by clear and stable government policy.
Setting out this commitment will help drive
innovation and investment. Only government
can ultimately set the policy framework within
which industry can flourish.
© SOLAR CENTURY
STICK TO THE ZERO
CARBON TARGETS, FOR
BOTH NEW HOMES AND
NEW NON-DOMESTIC
BUILDINGS
We have to build the best performing new
buildings and not add to the carbon problem.
The world-leading target for all new homes to
be zero carbon from 2016 has had a profound
impact on the industry and should be
supported. It has led to innovation in design,
closer working between developers, architects
and engineers and will lead to fundamentally
higher quality new homes.
The definition of a zero carbon home needs
to be finalised as a priority. But we should
learn from experience in the domestic sector
and deliver on ambitious and stretching
targets for non-domestic buildings to ensure
that all new buildings are delivered to the
best possible standards.
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© KNAUF INSULATION
MAKE LOW CARBON
HOME REFURBISHMENT
EASY, AFFORDABLE AND
ATTRACTIVE
Everyone aspires to having a warm, comfortable
and attractive home, which is affordable to
run. This aspiration should become a reality.
The low carbon home refurbishment
market is potentially worth billions of pounds
a year to the UK economy, could create over
100,000 new jobs and could make a vital
contribution to ensuring affordable warmth
and energy security.
Innovative schemes, such as ‘Pay As You Save’,
that spread the cost of refurbishment over
time, must be rolled out as soon as possible.
This idea is based on the premise that action
by government could unlock significant private
sector finance to fund the upfront costs of
refurbishment, with no public expenditure.
Pay As You Save can work in conjunction with
Feed in Tariffs and the Renewable Heat Incentive,
which make renewable energy more affordable
for home owners. It should also be subsidised by
an ongoing Supplier Obligation to help guarantee
the delivery of carbon savings and provide an
attractive proposition to householders.
Low carbon refurbishment could be delivered
by a range of providers, from energy
companies to local tradespeople to high street
retailers. Crucially, they must all be properly
trained and accredited, through a nationally-
recognised scheme, in order to maintain trust
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and credibility.
In 2009, Government chose not to mandate
higher levels of energy efficiency for
homeowners carrying out extensions – so-called
‘consequential improvements’. This was a
missed opportunity and should be rectified.
But to really galvanise the market, government
should send a clear signal that the worst
performing properties must be upgraded over
time, based on EPC ratings.
When homes change hands, green
refurbishment could be encouraged through
preferential tax rates for low carbon
properties, which could be fiscally neutral
to the Treasury. We have no choice but to
radically improve the energy efficiency of
our homes. People will accept
this if they are given the incentives and the
means to do so.
© TIM CROCKER
DRIVE THE
REFURBISHMENT OF NON-
DOMESTIC BUILDINGS
UP THE AGENDA
Responsibility currently falls between government
departments, but with 17 per cent of UK carbon
emissions coming from our non-domestic
buildings, we need a comprehensive strategy for
action in this sector. The Carbon Reduction
Commitment is a start, but will not be enough.
Robust data for non-domestic buildings is
notoriously scarce, undermining efforts to
reduce carbon and causing confusion. To help in
this regard, Display Energy Certificates (DECs)
should be made mandatory for all non-domestic
buildings and the private sector should pre-
empt this by voluntarily commissioning DECs.
© ALLFORD HALL MONAGHAN MORRIS/TIM SOAR
Government can drive change and lead by
example through public procurement,
but to make really significant progress,
government should mandate refurbishment of
the worst performing buildings in both public
and private sector. Minimum performance
standards, based on A to G ratings, should
increase over time.
Schemes to help spread the cost of
refurbishment over time could apply to the
non-domestic sector, a form of Supplier
Obligation could subsidise costs and the tax
system could also be used as a way of
incentivising action.
© SHEPHEARD EPSTEIN HUNTER
DELIVER SUSTAINABLE
COMMUNITY
INFRASTRUCTURE
Community-scale infrastructure such as heating,
water harvesting, waste disposal and waste
re-use all have an important role to play in
a sustainable built environment and when
integrated, can offer considerable carbon
and cost savings and community benefits.
Local authorities should develop
‘Sustainability Option Plans’, to identify
opportunities to deliver joined-up sustainable
community infrastructure and work in
partnership with the private sector to supply
this. Public sector buildings should be required,
where viable, to connect to existing or planned
community heat networks, to provide an
‘anchor load’ of demand, and large businesses
should be encouraged to do the same.
Government has said that developers will be
able to invest in so-called ‘allowable solutions’
in order to meet the required standard when
constructing new zero carbon buildings.
This mechanism should be used as a way
of providing additional ring fenced capital
to support the delivery of community
infrastructure.