Government 'missing bigger emissions picture'

Posted: 20 Oct 2008 12:19:08 GMT

The government should be doing more to address the issue of carbon dioxide emissions from existing properties, the WWF has claimed.

Speaking at the recent Grand Designs Live show in Birmingham, senior campaigns officer for transport Lucy Berenshaw said that there is still a "long way to go" in tackling property emissions.

She explained that the government had been quick to consider new-build homes, but warned that 85 per cent of houses in 2030 would be existing buildings, outside the remit of its zero carbon scheme.

"The government has made a lot of strong commitments about new builds by saying that by 2016 all new builds have to be zero carbon," Miss Berenshaw added. "However [it] has missed a trick a little bit with existing stock."

Those in attendance at the show also heard that the building industry faces a "tough challenge" in making the house construction sector carbon neutral over the next eight years.

Earlier this year, the Construction Products Association called for the government to deliver more land to developers if targets for 240,000 new, carbon neutral homes a year are to be reached by 2016.

© Houseladder Ltd