Government stands by "Merton Rule"

Companies involved in sustainable construction have been given a boost after the UK government yesterday published a new Planning Policy Statement (PPS) on Climate Change that will put renewable energy technology and efficiency at the heart of local planning policy.

The statement stipulates that councils and developers must take climate change and environmental impacts into account when approving the construction of any new buildings and builds on existing plans to ensure all new homes are carbon-neutral from 2016.

The PPS also confirms that despite intense lobbying from some sectors of the construction industry the government is sticking by plans for the wider roll out of the "Merton Rule" - a policy established by the London Borough of Merton in 2003 which requires new commercial buildings to gain 10 per cent of their energy from onsite renewable technologies.

Housing secretary Yvette Cooper said councils needed to "do more to back local green energy". This follows a report by the UK Green Building Council revealing that commercial buildings generate 18 per cent of the country's pollution.

"We need the planning system to do more to back jobs, economic growth and regeneration but also to support higher environmental standards as we do so," Cooper said.

"We need to be environmentally ambitious about all buildings, not just housing. We don't just need eco homes - we need eco offices, eco shops, eco pubs and clubs."

Under the PPS, councils and developers will have to integrate technologies such as wind turbines and solar panels into new homes and commercial buildings. They will also have to factor sustainability into the construction of buildings and rely more heavily on renewable energy sources.

The paper comes just days after Cooper unveiled plans for the country's first eco-village, which will be built on the site of the old Hanham Hall hospital near Bristol and will include 200 zero-carbon homes powered from a local biomass plant.