The UK Government is in the process of revising the 2000 Strategy for Sustainable Construction, to take into consideration what has been achieved over the past five years and to provide an effective framework to guide future policies that are relevant to construction.
The construction industry impacts significantly on practically every environmental issue affecting sustainability and awareness of sustainable construction has been rising up the agenda in recent years.
RICS View
RICS welcomes the move to present all existing policies on sustainable construction in one document and the setting of targets for key sustainability issues within the construction industry.
However, the creation a truly sustainable culture within the construction industry and the wider public realm, needs to address the entire building stock; new, existing, residential and commercial.
The RICS Green Value report discusses the advantages of environmentally friendly buildings.
Recent Government policy has had little impact on energy use and climate change with the Climate Change Levy leading to no significant change in building performance or occupation behaviour.
The Building Regulations dealing with environmental issues need to be brought up to the best EU and international standards.
Existing stock is a prime source of carbon emissions but VAT is currently applicable on refurbishments but not new build. Along with other costs and problems, the existing stock is often a far less appealing development option.
Current focus is too biased towards new build and public funded stock and not the majority owned existing stock.
Minimum standards need to be raised and a level playing field created for developer, occupiers and landlords.
The minimisation of waste generated during the construction, use and after-life of a building, can have significant environmental and financial benefits.
Fiscal incentives would undoubtedly reduce waste levels but RICS believes that the obstacles created by the government’s agenda conflicting with local government practice must be addressed.
A united approach between not only government departments but also central and local government is imperative to successfully implementing a sustainable construction strategy.
RICS would welcome guidance on what quality and sustainable design are, as ensuring quality and sustainability are built into a design from inception is vital.
Designers and planners play a key role in both the environmental quality of buildings through energy efficiency and the human quality of buildings through their aesthetics.
We welcome the recognition of the skills shortage facing the UK construction industry but stress that the shortage is not limited to the broad workforce but also the proportion of skilled workers.
Industry may be unable to keep up with building proposals, such as the 230 000 houses required per year by the Barker Review which would require around 4 000 extra surveyors.
We would welcome incentives for Apprentices and development of schemes such as Earn As You Learn to attract people into the Industry.
Recommendation
Sustainability standards should be extended to cover the entire building stock including new and existing, residential and commercial buildings.
The full RICS submission on the Government's Draft Strategy for Sustainable Construction 2006 can be found in the Word Downloads box on the right of this page.
