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The government has this week released two policy announcements relating to green buildings. DECC has published the consultation on Minimum Energy Performance Standards, and confirmed that it will not amend the fourth carbon budget.
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The UK Green Building Council has responded to the long-awaited consultation on Minimum Energy Performance Standards (MEPS). Paul King, Chief Executive of UK-GBC, said: “The Government’s announcements today represent a strong green light for investment in low-carbon homes and buildings, bringing to an end months of uncertainty on some of the most important policies affecting energy efficiency.”
In a written ministerial statement, Energy Secretary Ed Davey confirmed that the Coalition will not be amending the fourth carbon budget, which commits the UK to a target of halving emissions relative to 1990 levels during the period from 2023 to 2027.
Paul King said: “The decision to stick to the fourth carbon budget is absolutely the right one.
“The budget puts the UK on a trajectory to cutting emissions by 50 per cent by 2050. But as last week’s Committee on Climate Change report highlighted, the building sector is a crucial area in which we have been falling behind, despite the fact that buildings offer the most cost effective way of cutting carbon. Clarity about the direction of travel will help to drive much needed investment.”
The Government has also published two consultation documents on the implementation of Minimum Energy Performance Standards (MEPS) in privately-rented commercial and domestic buildings.
Paul King said: “It’s great that Government has listened to industry and provided more details on one of the most eagerly awaited and potentially powerful drivers for low energy buildings. More than any other policy, this will put energy efficiency firmly on the agenda whenever homes and commercial buildings are let.”
Miles Keeping, Partner at Deloitte Real Estate, added: “There is no doubt that MEPS has already made many landlords increase their efforts to address energy efficiency in non-domestic buildings whilst also influencing their trading positions, and it is very likely to continue to do so. The recent ‘Carbon Penalties and Incentives’ work sponsored by the Green Property Alliance and Green Construction Board, undertaken by Deloitte, has proved that mechanisms which focus on transaction-based triggers will play a very significant role in reducing energy consumption.
“The commercial property sector in its broad sense – that’s landlords, occupiers, developers and advisers – welcomes the prospect of having certainty in this area which will enable appropriate investment in improving the efficiency of buildings. The consultation has been a long time in coming, let’s hope we can move forward to regulatory certainty as quickly as possible.”
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