Letter to The Times says a series of anti-green announcements are cause for alarm
The Royal Institute of British Architects and the Construction Industry Council have criticised the government for “inhibiting the construction industry from building a market for green products”.
In a letter to The Times, signed by RIBA president Angela Brady and CIC chair Jack Pringle, they called for greater clarity on green policy and a stop to announcements that undermined the industry’s efforts to help the UK meet its carbon targets.
They said: “We are alarmed at the way government announcements and measures are sowing confusion and inhibiting the construction industry from building a market for green products and making the strides it needs to meet carbon targets.
“The withdrawal of support for Display Energy Certificates, changes to the feed-in-tariff, statements that appear to reject proposals for mandatory consequential improvements for housing, and insufficient support for new contracts for investment in green energy are significant cause for our alarm.
“The so-called choice between going green or going for growth is a false one. We believe that we can green our way out of this recession - through the retrofit of thousands of homes and non-domestic buildings, creating the demand for small and medium sized businesses all over the country - leaving a legacy that will pay dividends over generations.
The letter was also signed by former RIBA presidents Ruth Reed, Sunand Prasad as well as Stephen Hodder RIBA president-elect, and Robin Nicholson, former chair of the CIC.
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