- News
- Magazine
- Awards
- CRC
- Legislation
- Housing
- Renewables
- Non-domestic
- Water
- Energy
- Waste & recyc..
- Refurbishment
- Innovation
- Materials
- Biodiversity
- Interiors
- Books
- Training
- Transport
- Links
- Events
Photograph of ANSystem living walls by Scotscape Limited
http://www.greenbuildnews.co.uk/images/img/articles/297_198/Articles_192_1_1276871964.jpg
Other news in this category...
The report, Hitting the Green Wall ... and Beyond, is a collaboration between the British Property Federation (BPF), international law firm Taylor Wessing, and specialist research and communications consultancy Spada.
With over 7,000 individuals surveyed, the report is believed to be by far the most comprehensive survey to date of the development industry’s sentiment towards – and preparedness for – sustainability and carbon reduction. Despite the difficult economic conditions, the survey also finds that the importance accorded to sustainability has held steady during the recession, and highlights the increasing prevalence of green agreements.
Key findings of the study include:
- all sectors of the UK development industry are sceptical of Government’s policy objectives. 76% of respondents think that the Government’s plans for making all new housing zero carbon by 2016 are unrealistic. 73% believe plans to make new commercial property zero carbon by 2019 are unrealistic. However, respondents are also convinced that the ‘stick’ of regulation is most likely to drive progress in future, highlighting the need for closer industry-government collaboration;
- the importance accorded to sustainability remains high, despite the recession, with over 68% saying sustainability was either ‘very’ or ‘highly’ important. When compared to the 2009 report, importance dipped only marginally by 3%, a sign of durable commitment in the face of a severe recession. Contractors, however, reported a 10% dip in importance;
- sustainability strategies are now widespread, but success is frequently not measured. Over 70% of those surveyed had a sustainability strategy in place, but only around half of respondents set internal targets, whilst only approximately a third set targets related to business dealings;
- a plethora of benchmarking tools exist, but these all measure diverse factors and there is little common application. EPCs, BREEAM and ISO 14001 are all popular. Sustainability is reported on by the majority of respondents (72.33%) but across varying timeframes and in a multitude of ways.
“Government faces a huge challenge in striking the right balance between 'carrot' and 'stick' in order to secure its sustainability objectives, whilst the industry must engage as much as possible and attempt to meet and exceed targets. An inconsistent approach to regulation and its implementation, or the setting of targets that are perceived as unachievable, is likely to impact negatively on the delivery of the sustainability agenda by the industry.”
Search related articles
