‘Green buildings’ will mean more savings

By Fiona Harvey, Environment Correspondent
Published: February 25 2009 02:27

Refurbishing office buildings to a higher environmental standard would create around 30,000 new jobs and save companies more than £700m ($1bn) a year, according to a study.
The construction industry is taking a renewed interest in “green building”, which could provide the sector with a much-needed boost as it struggles with the effects of the recession.

Gordon Brown, the prime minister, has leant his weight to efforts to raise the environmental standards of homes through a widespread programme of insulation, but this has focused on the domestic market.
Non-domestic buildings, including offices, public buildings such as hospitals and factories account for nearly a fifth of the UK’s emissions, according to a study from the consultancy Caleb Management Services, commissioned by Kingspan, the insulation manufacturer. About £27bn is spent a year on average in refurbishing such buildings, but many refurbishments devote little attention to improving the efficiency and environmental performance of the buildings.
The study concluded that spending 7 per cent more on refurbishment would cut carbon emissions by the equivalent of taking 5m cars off the road, and would lead to the creation of between 30,000 and 50,000 jobs.
Alan Whitehead, chair of the parliamentary renewable and sustainable energy group, said: “If the government’s emissions reduction targets are going to be met, then energy efficiency has to be the place to start. [There is] huge scope for emissions savings in buildings such as schools, hospitals, factories and warehouses.”
Buildings must now be rated for their energy efficiency, receiving an Energy Performance Certificate graded A to G according to their performance. But few buildings meet the higher standards, and the government’s own building stock are among the worst offenders: about three quarters of the UK’s public buildings were graded at D or below in a recent test.
The report found that many of the measures, such as enhanced capital allowances, put in place by government to help companies to cut emissions from their buildings were difficult for businesses to access.
In recent years, the construction industry has been reluctant to embrace “green buildings”, seeing them as an extra cost which would cut into their margins and discourage buyers. But the precipitous decline in the industry’s fortunes owing to the recession has encouraged companies to look to new areas of potential investment, such as low-emissions homes and offices, many of which qualify for some form of government support.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009