Green Building Council calls for "building MOTs"

The UK Green Building Council (GBC) will later today release its plans for a Code for Sustainable Buildings that would require both new and existing buildings to pass a kind of "building MOT" requiring them to deliver steady improvements in energy efficiency.

The code, which has been developed over the last six months with contributions from some of the largest players in the UK construction and property management sectors, will be presented to the government and, it is hoped, will be formally adopted as an overarching alternative to the UK's various green building regulations and standards.

"At the moment the practical delivery and management of sustainable buildings is being held up by a confusing myriad of different sustainability policies, regulations, tools and standards," said Paul King, chief executive of the GBC. "The Code for Sustainable Buildings should establish one clear policy and regulatory trajectory towards a sustainable built environment, to show where we need to get to, by when."

The new code builds on the government's existing Code for Sustainable Homes, but whereas those guidelines focused only on new-build domestic properties and the government's target to ensure all new homes are zero carbon by 2016, the new code covers all buildings, including both existing and new-build.

"The Code for Sustainable Homes marked an important departure from all regulations and voluntary standards that went before, by setting a trajectory to zero carbon," said King. "This has resulted in an unprecedented level of innovation in the housebuilding sector. The Code for Sustainable Buildings should progressively drive up performance across the whole non-domestic building stock on a range of sustainability impacts and targets."

Speaking to BusinessGreen.com, the GBC's John Alker said that the new Code for Sustainable Buildings would be more demanding than the Code for Sustainable Homes and would feature more mandatory requirements.

Central to the proposals are environmental impact performance checks – characterised as a kind of "building MOT" – that would assess the carbon, energy, waste and water performance of all new and existing buildings at regular intervals throughout their life. Significantly, minimum standards would be progressively raised over time and would have to be met for buildings to be passed as "code approved".

"This is the industry saying it is up for tighter regulation and up for demanding standards, as long as there is flexibility on how those standards are met," said Alker.

Dan Labbad, chief executive of Lend Lease Europe, which worked on the code, said that it would make it easier for firms to navigate with the government's various green building regulations.

"While there is no shortage of regulation, policies and tools governing sustainable buildings, our work with the UK GBC on the code addresses the need for an integrated framework that brings together these disparate elements," he said. "This is a first step towards removing the immense confusion that exists, providing the industry with a clear direction of travel and empowering innovation across the supply chain."

Bill Bolsover, chief executive of building materials company Aggregate Industries, agreed that the new code could help accelerate investment in sustainable construction.

"The piecemeal approach involved in the different building standards and codes already in existence has led not only to confusion across the industry, but has also slowed progress in the widespread adoption of sustainable practices," he said. "The new Code for Sustainable Buildings… is certainly a promising step in the right direction and I truly hope that the recommendation for the government to work in partnership with industry and other key stakeholders will result in positive, tangible action."