Industry leaders call for environmental legislation

Building industry leaders want environmental legislation to be pushed through in order to meet emission reduction targets.

The British Property Federation (BPF) and UK Green Building Council are two organisations leading calls for Display Energy Certificates to be mandatory for private sector buildings.

Currently, the scheme is only compulsory for public sector constructions, but the BPF has argued that non-domestic properties only account for 17 per cent of the UK's total carbon emissions.

Under the scheme, buildings are given a rating between A and G depending on how energy efficient they are.

BPF chief executive Liz Peace believes people can make savings by adopting the system, as the full scale of where energy is being wasted can be highlighted.

Another initiative that could boost the efficiency of businesses is the Green Deal, which is being set up to offer loans so that property owners can install insulation and then pay the money back through the savings made on heating bills.

However, the Federation of Master Builders recently predicted the project might not be embraced by the public.

Posted by Lauren Steadman