Plans for green MOTs for UK's buildings

• Proposal to cover commercial and public buildings• Successful trial could see plans extended to UK homes

Juliette Jowit
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 4 March 2009 00.05 GMT

Every building in the UK could be required to undergo a green "MOT" of its energy efficiency, water use and the waste it generates, following plans published today by an influential group of businesses and environmental organisations.
A proposal for every commercial and public building – from the village hall to vast City towers – to have a "building MOT" is part of a report published by the Green Building Council, at an event attended by the cabinet minister for housing and planning, Margaret Beckett.
If successful, the MOTs, modelled on the compulsory annual checks for motor vehicles which are named after the old Ministry of Transport, could in future be extended to homes, said Paul King, the council's chief executive, who recommends a maximum of five years between checks.
A report on the idea, which will be published at the EcoBuild exhibition in London, was drawn up by a taskforce which included representatives of some of the UK's biggest property developers, King – who formerly worked for campaign group WWF – and two government officials who sat as "observers". Previous recommendations by the council have been adopted by ministers, including a target in 2019 for all new commercial buildings to be "zero-carbon", at least for heating and lighting.
"The feeling is they [government] have been listening ... so we're pretty optimistic of a good hearing," said King.
The latest proposals will be added to a growing list of initiatives from government and Europe, aimed at cutting the more than 50% of emissions that come from the UK's 25m homes, and approximately 2m non-domestic buildings, from police stations to shopping centres. Last year, the Guardian revealed that an audit of the 18,000 government and other public buildings found their emissions added up to more than the national total for Kenya, and the Whitehall office of the newly created Department for Energy and Climate Change received the lowest possible efficiency rating of G.
The introduction of Home Information Packs in 2007, which included measures of energy efficiency, were also dogged by criticism that they were cumbersome and costly, held up the housing market, and that the government had not made sure enough assessors were trained up.
The plethora of policies is likely to spark concern about adding another burden on businesses, particularly as the MOTs would be widened out beyond the usual measures of carbon dioxide to look at all energy use, water, waste and recycling, and the resources used in constructing new buildings.
There would also be concern about who would pay for the MOTs - owners or tenants - said the British Chambers of Commerce, which said companies should have incentives to invest in cutting energy and water use and waste. "And we want to see taxes paid come back into initiatives that help businesses," said Gareth Elliott, the Chamber's policy adviser.
Rather than adding to red tape, King said the council hoped the proposed new "building MOTs" would allow ministers to "streamline" and replace some existing initiatives, some of which were contradictory or not working. "It's about creating better clarity and consistency, and therefore reducing costs," he said. The report also calls for tax breaks to encourage businesses to invest in green measures.
A spokesman for the Department of Communities and Local Government said they would "certainly consider" the proposals as part of a wider consultation on non-domestic properties. "It is important we continue to improve the green standards of existing and new buildings," he said. The department has already introduced Energy Performance Certificates for all buildings which are sold or rented, showing how energy efficient they are.