Task group advises Government on new definition of zero carbon

Dr Neil Cutland, a director of Inbuilt, is one of the sustainability specialists on the UK Green Building Council task group that is reporting to Government on a potential new definition of 'zero carbon'.

This new definition is designed to help UK housebuilders deliver genuinely zero carbon new homes by 2016. 

Commenting on the UK-GBC’s recommendations to Government, Neil Cutland says: 'We have reached a pragmatic solution which clearly incentivises firstly energy efficiency and secondly on-site and near-site renewable energy solutions.

'But, essentially, it also includes a ‘last resort’ mechanism, a Community Energy Fund, that will allow the necessary carbon savings to be achieved even on the most technically complex or constrained sites.

'This must now be discussed by HMRC, CLG and other Government departments, and there is still significant work to be done on the precise mechanisms of the Community Energy Fund.'

These details are vitally important, says Cutland, but housebuilders can already have confidence that zero carbon is coming into reach for all of them, even the smallest companies. 

'There is a potential benefit too for owners of existing homes or commercial property. By allowing the Community Energy Fund to be used to link up a new site’s energy infrastructure with other neighbouring developments, housebuilders can share the excess heat commonly generated by the new homes.

At last, he adds, we can see some proper joined-up thinking and flexibility to help tackle the huge challenge of the inefficient existing building stock. 

'As the dividing line between buildings and energy supply becomes ever more blurred, the UK-GBC report also points clearly to the need for a new type of professional advice for developers.



'Housebuilders working towards 2016 now need advice that fully integrates masterplanning and design skills at the earliest stages of their projects with the technical and scientific expertise of building services engineers and the sustainability skills of specialist green consultancies. This is the whole-system thinking, the integrated route to genuine sustainability, that we are delivering at Inbuilt. These skills are in short supply, but this sort of advice must be made available to all housebuilders, not just the volume builders.'