The UK will miss the target to make all new homes zero carbon by 2016, according to Barratt Homes chief executive Mark Clare.
Building magazine reported that while speaking at a panel discussion at industry conference Ecobuild this week, he said that a date of 2018 is more likely, as a clear definition of the term is yet to be finalised.
This means that housebuilders do not have the confidence of what standards they are building to.
“We [housebuilders] won’t be 100 per cent carbon neutral until 2018,” he told delegates. “We do need to see that definition. It’s now long overdue.”
Indeed, the UK Green Building Council has called for the construction industry to proactively improve home energy efficiency ahead of the definition if the UK is to meet the 2016 target.
It is to create a business plan, examining the markets for green building.
Paul King, chief executive of the body, said: “There are currently things that the government needs to do, but we will have to do most of this ourselves.”
Posted by Emily Thomas
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