Prisk to chair new Green Construction Board

The government is to set up a new Green Construction Board chaired by construction minister Mark Prisk, it announced today.

The new board, which will also feature chief construction adviser Paul Morrell, was the headline announcement from the government’s response to Morrell’s Low Carbon report from December 2010, published today.

Other members of the board, which will be up and running in the autumn, are to be decided over the summer.

The publication of the response to Morrell’s report, known as the Low Carbon IGT, has already been welcomed by a range of industry groups.

The RICS will also be given a role in driving through a number of other recommendations, including  establishing a standard method of measuring embodied carbon, and organising a cross-industry seminar on the implementation of the Green Deal. It will also work with the government on using Building Information Modelling to improve the sustainability of construction and refurbishment

Mark Goodwin, RICS Director of External Affairs, said: “Coordinated action across the construction industry will be essential if we are to meet the challenges presented by sustainability and the need to reduce carbon from the construction and refurbishment process. It is the responsibility of the construction and property industries and the Government to ensure that the process is driven forward, helping to reduce carbon emissions from the built environment.”

The UK Green Building Council said the report represented the start of a “new era” for low carbon co-operation in the construction industry.

More soon…