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Posted: 14 March 2008

2019 Zero Carbon Pledge for Non-Domestic Buildings

The Government has announced in the Budget that it plans to make all non-domestic buildings such as offices and shops zero carbon by 2019, just three years after the target date for zero carbon standards in new housing.

The pledge follows a report by the UK Green Building Council published before Christmas 2007 recording that all buildings, not just housing, should become zero carbon rated by 2020. The Government’s Code for Sustainable Homes is already in place to ensure all new housing is zero carbon by 2016, but similar standards for non-domestic buildings have previously been considered too complex because of the high electrical lighting and appliance loads in commercial buildings.

Speaking at the Ecobuild conference back in February, the newly installed Housing Minister Caroline Flint promised a full public consultation on ways to cut carbon emissions in non-domestic buildings. Flint said: "[The UK Green Building Council's] analysis shows that, with the right circumstances, the will and the investment, it would be possible to achieve this goal by 2020".

In establishing the 2019 date, Chancellor Alistair Darling said that achieving the target could save 75 million tonnes of carbon dioxide over the next 30 years, and confirmed Flint's earlier announcement that a consultation would take place later this year on achieving the target.

The British Property Federation (BPF) backed the Chancellor's budget announcement. BPF Chief Executive Liz Pearce said: "This is a great opportunity for the commercial property industry to make a long standing and very real contribution to Britain's green agenda. While the target will be a challenge, it is certainly achievable with the right mix of fiscal incentives and the right balance of joined up thinking across government departments".

Darling also announced his ambition for all public service buildings to be zero carbon from 2018, confirming that a task force would be set up to consider exactly how this ambition can be achieved.

Link: http://www.communities.gov.uk/news/corporate/720417

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