UKGBC calls for Code for Sustainable Buildings

All premises would undergo a regular “MoT” to monitor their energy performance and environmental impact throughout their lives, under guiding principles for the code put forward by a UKGBC task group of senior industry figures.

The group also called for the code to set the standards, metrics and targets that all sustainability tools should be aligned with.

The proposals were set out in a report, Making the Case for a Code for Sustainable Buildings, launched 4 March at the Ecobuild event in London.

Paul King, chief executive of the UKGBC, said: “The practical delivery and management of sustainable buildings is being held up by a confusing myriad of different sustainability policies, regulations, tools and standards.

“The Code for Sustainable Buildings should establish one clear policy and regulatory trajectory towards a sustainable built environment.”

The report highlighted the need for performance data for buildings in use.

King said: “The Code for Sustainable Buildings should also drive the systematic collection of the building performance data we so urgently need, which will provide the basis for the benchmarking and valuation of sustainable/green buildings in the future.”

The report said the code should be “owned” by the government but developed and managed by industry.

Sunand Prasad, president of the RIBA and a member of the task group, said: “We now have a marvellous opportunity to produce a single industry standard that all can understand and measure their performance against, in order to achieve relentless improvement towards a zero-carbon built environment by 2050.”

Nick Raynsford, former construction minister, welcomed the report.

“The challenge is to change things fundamentally if we are to get anywhere near the 80% target in carbon reduction,” he said.