Archive for November, 2009

In the countdown to the Copenhagen climate summit next month all the talk, hot air or legitimate concern, has been of how world leaders are running out of time to save the world.
When it comes to housebuilders’ helping to create a low carbon economy you sense 2010 is absolutely critical – the year when legislation and targets must be clearly defined and the construction sector given the necessary carrots to deliver the sustainable housing agenda. Maximum incentive? Or minimum compliance? Saving the planet does not equal saving your job, as Grainger’s Tim Nicholson would testify.
The energy efficiency of homes is literally the building block of a carbon economy – a house is the consumer’s biggest purchase and emits more carbon than a cow after a broccoli breakfast. Get the builders who build the things and the people who live in them to buy into a green future is a good start.
The trouble is, so mistrusted and incompetent is this lame duck, but still extremely dangerous, Labour government, so half-baked, unachievable, inconsistent and confusing their sustainability measures, that this industry, and others, simply does not believe anything it says. Let’s face it Climate Secretary Ed Miliband does not know if it is winter, spring, summer or fall.
On the plus side, the 2016 Taskforce, with the Zero Carbon Hub to the fore, look like a crack unit, if you discount the ministers and has the energy and initiative to make a real difference.
Labour, unlike climate change, is an easy target and we have to recognise only public-private sector initiatives in the green field will ultimately work, as there will be regulatory procedures and standards to apply that require the dead hand of government.
But sift through the environmental wood full of codes that lack clarity and definition and you find some mighty oaks of pioneering knowledge and influence. Several of them are profiled in November’s Show House magazine, including Sustainable Six feature, an opinion piece by Chris Thompson and the wisdom of Martin Sexton.
The government has to give a mandate to these forward-thinkers to lead the way, educate both the industry and the consumer and not allow bureaucracy and government meddling tie their initiatives up in red tape.
Let the housebuilding industry, with at the very least a hefty, but accountable, marketing grant, deliver a shiny manual on how to deliver the sustainable housing agenda and what the industry needs in return. Then John Healey and Ed Miliband can sign it with a flourish – before leaving office.
Christopher Booker in The Sunday Telegraph writes wonderfully splenetic stuff about climate change being one monstrous, costly con. Scepticism has to be packed in the saddle bag when riding out to discuss environmental issues, but inside and alongside the housebuilding industry there are some very sharp minds with sustainable housing answers, but also practical and commercial enough to know that it is not a cheap sell, or build.
“As we strive to create a low carbon economy, which will rely greatly on improving the energy efficiency of our homes and buildings, it is essential that the government continues to consult the housebuilding industry and takes decisive action to set the correct targets,” said Kevin Brennan, Head of Sustainability at VELUX.
Head of Sustainability is a job title in the news recently with Tim Nicholson, Grainger’s former Head of Sustainability, claiming he was made redundant from the UK’s largest listed residential landlord because of his strong, environmental views.
The property industry has its first green martyr. It could open a recycled can of worms, if other employees feel they are not being fed the necessary low-carbon diet in the workplace. It seems, by law, environmentalism is now a religion.
This is again why the debate is so adversarial. Every religion has its radical zealots and its moderates. Nicholson said the catastrophic potential of climate change was backed by “overwhelming scientific evidence.” Not the scientists Christopher Booker listens to obviously.
I take you back to the considered arguments of our Sustainable Six and the likes of Citu and VELUX, who are walking the walk by actually building sustainable homes.
“We believe one experiment is more powerful than one thousand expert views and are building two low-carbon homes in Kettering to prove it is possible to build energy-efficient housing both appealing to the consumer and affordable and easy to be replicated by the volume housebuilder,” said Brennan.
Meanwhile Miller Homes, the UK’s sixth largest housebuilder, recently launched its first carbon zero home. Each of the five homes in Basingstoke has been built to meet different levels of the Code for Sustainable Homes, including Level 6, the carbon zero code, which must be met by all new homes by 2016.
“The industry has a responsibility, but also an opportunity to help reduce our carbon footprint. Rather than just waiting until we had to implement the Code, we decided to get a head start on understanding the cost implications, alongside learning how to build the homes of the future,” said Tim Hough, chief executive of Miller Homes.
The industry as a whole has a long way to go to convince itself, never mind convert that conviction into a stream of green buyers. Do you know, in an otherwise very well supported What House? Awards this year, the two categories with the least entries were Sustainable Developer of the Year and Best Sustainable Development. Come 2016 these two categories will be obsolete, as every new home entered will presumably come with a carbon zero stamp of eco-approval. I’m not going to hold my breath and cows are not going to hold their wind.

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