Construction and the Environment

The construction industry is changing, driven by the sustainability agenda, government housing development programmes and modern methods of construction.

Energy produced from non-renewable sources and consumed in building services accounts for approximately 50% of UK CO2 emissions, contributing to climate change.

The building sector also accounts for an incredible 40% of the European Union’s energy consumption and according to the Sustainable Development Commission the UK’s 21 million homes are responsible for approximately 27% of 40 million tonnes of the country’s CO2 missions.

Against this background, Prime Minister Gordon Brown has put affordable housing at the top of his government’s agenda. He told MPs, “Through this decade and right up to 2020 I want us in an environmentally responsible way using principally brownfield land and building eco towns and villages to meet housing needs by building 3 million new homes by 2020”.

To provide a catalyst for the uptake of sustainability assessments, particularly for homes, the government has recently introduced the Code for Sustainable Homes.

The Code, which is only applicable in England, specifies standards in the areas of energy efficiency, water conservation, surface water management, household waste management and the use of materials.

The government has also launched the Carbon Challenge to accelerate the house building industry’s response to climate change by fast tracking the creation of a number of zero and near zero carbon communities.

To meet the demands of these and other new initiatives the building industry will be going through a significant cultural change and in order to meet these targets there will be more use of offsite construction, improved distribution, reduced transportation, increased recycling, improved resource efficiency and the integration of renewable energy.

The government hopes that the measures will help meet the target of cutting CO2 emissions by at least 60% by 2050 from 1990 levels.