Construction Products Launch Low and Zero Carbon Buildings Technology Group

8 November 2006

John Colley the President of the Construction Products Association today announced the launch of a Low and Zero Carbon Buildings Technology Group to encourage the development of new technologies in a quest to deliver more sustainable construction (low and zero carbon buildings).

Speaking to more than 400 guests at the autumn lunch of the Association at London’s Hilton Hotel, including guest speaker Jonathon Porritt, politicians, journalists and other key industry representatives, Colley outlined the crucial role that the construction products industry has in helping the Government address the challenge of climate change and stressed that manufacturers and supplies were increasingly part of the solution to deliver sustainable construction.

Colley said the industry was looking forward to a positive response from Government to the Neville Simms report on Sustainable Procurement and stressed the need to procure on the basis of whole life value and to move away from a culture of lowest initial cost.  He was encouraged by the number of private sector clients in the industry that were already taking sustainability very seriously and were imposing new and more demanding requirements on their supply chains.

Colley continued:  “Of all the challenges (facing the industry) by far the greatest is climate change and developing long term secure supplies of carbon free energy. As construction product manufacturers and suppliers we have a particularly important part to play in this. We need to be at the forefront of developing new technologies, always ensuring that the products we develop actually deliver what they promise. Unrealistic claims of what new products can achieve will only undermine the confidence of our customers and the whole drive for more sustainable living could become discredited.

“At the same time I hope that local authorities will resist being prescriptive about the ways in which developers should reduce carbon emissions from their buildings. Although many have already moved in this direction, I do not believe that their requirements are always the most cost effective or environmentally friendly way of delivering the carbon savings they set out to achieve. Those who make policies and regulations need to focus on what they want to see delivered, not how it will be delivered. “

However Colley warned that Government must not be seduced into doing what delivered the best short term headlines in preference to long term wins.

Whilst supporting the move to low and zero carbon buildings, he said:  “Even with the best will in the world, ensuring all new buildings are carbon neutral cannot be delivered overnight. As is well recognised, nearly 40% of our carbon emissions come from buildings and half of this is from space and water heating. 80% of our dwellings were built before building regulations paid any attention to energy efficiency, and these are on average four times less energy efficient than a house built to the latest building regulations, never mind the higher standards likely to be set down in the Code for Sustainable Homes.

“At the current rate of house building we are replacing less than 1% of the existing housing stock each year. We therefore need to disconnect the timetable for higher new build standards from the more immediate returns we can get from saving carbon across the existing building stock. And all the evidence makes abundantly clear that improving the existing stock is by far the most cost effective way of reducing CO2 emissions. The £200 spent on insulating a loft in Barnsley saves exactly the same tonne of carbon that a £10,000 investment in a photovoltaic panel will on a new house in Notting Hill. “

Jonathon Porritt, guest speaker at the lunch welcomed this initiative from the Construction Products Association, and said:  “I am delighted that the Construction Products Association is setting up a new Low and Zero Carbon Buildings Technology Group.  As the Stern Review confirmed so powerfully last week, climate change is a challenge that has to be addressed with great urgency, and clear, consistent policy interventions from Government.  The leadership of industry bodies like the Construction Products Association should encourage the Government to be more ambitious in its own Climate Change Programme.”