Fri 18 Apr 2008
BPF calls for more green buildings
The British Property Federation (BPF) has called for the introduction of greater green targets and the reduction of carbon emissions, within the house building industry.Speaking at the Low Carbon World conference in London, BPF’s chief executive, Liz Peace (pictured), appealed to the industry, government departments and regulators to come together and focus on output based targets. She wants this to be supported with fiscal incentives, backed by clear proof of the impacts of such moves.
The BPF believes that a government supported measurement and benchmarking schemes should be introduced, setting achievable initiatives and targets, backed by the likes of Investment Property Databank (IPD), Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), Upstream and the Building Research Establishment.
The BPF has already welcomed a new era for green buildings, with the publishing of the Energy Performance Certification Regulations, which come into effect from 1 October 2008. It also has its own landlord's energy statement and tenant's energy review (LESTER), which enables homeowners to measure their own energy use.
Peace also emphasised the importance of the right sort of financial framework being introduced by the government.
She commented: "Clearly there will be a cost on all sides of fulfilling our environmental obligations. But it is the role of the government to work out exactly how best they can support the industry with appropriate fiscal incentives and, where necessary, penalties. The industry must be left to do what it does best: innovate, improve and develop our communities without micro-management and without prescriptive targets that render development unviable.
"With the built environment responsible for half of the UK's carbon emissions, the property industry must stand up, be counted and do what it can to deal with the problem, but this will not happen without unified ministerial support for an industry backed measurement framework.
"On measurement and reporting in particular, we must avoid being in the position where everyone has their own unique system, as there would simply be cost without benefit. The industry should look on its green challenge as a great opportunity to come together and ministers must support this with the right legislative and fiscal environment. We hope that the parliamentary inquiry being announced today by the All Party Urban Development Group can contribute some really constructive ideas on how to green existing buildings."
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