Building & Design

Wales is pledging to lead the UK in developing low/zero carbon buildings after signing up 43 organisations and businesses to a green building charter.

Headed by the Sustainable Development Commission, the Design Commission for Wales and the Welsh Assembly Government, the members of the coalition are committing to support a transition to low/zero carbon construction as quickly as practically possible.

The UK Government has set a deadline of 2016 for all newly constructed homes to be zero carbon, but the Welsh Assembly Government is aiming for a 2011 target of zero carbon for space heating, hot water and lighting in new builds.

The charter calls for all new housing funded by the Welsh Assembly or built on its land must meet The Code for Sustainable Homes Level 3 (or Code level 4 as soon as feasible) and non-domestic buildings must be up the BREEAM excellent standard.

The coalition is also committed to increasing the energy efficiency of existing buildings in Wales in line with the regional government’s aim of reducing annual emissions by 3% from 2011 onwards.

“The built environment is the largest contributor to greenhouse gases in Wales. The way in which we construct and use our homes and other buildings accounts for 40% of our total carbon emissions,” says Assembly Member Jane Davidson.

“We all believe early action is needed, and the charter confirms Wales’ commitment to do all we can to tackle climate change and reduce our carbon footprint,” she adds.

The Sustainable Development Commission, headed by Jonathon Porritt, says that the move could make Wales an exemplar for the rest of the country.

“It is very heartening to see that Wales has the foresight and ambition to accelerate progress towards a sustainable built environment.”

For further information:
new.wales.gov.uk/
www.sd-commission.org.uk/
dcfw.org/
www.communities.gov.uk/planningandbuilding/buildingregulations/legislation/englandwales/codesustainable/
www.breeam.org/

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Green refurbishment could create a £3.5 billion market(10-Jul)
Low-carbon refurbishment goes mainstream (24-Jul)

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