Housing and the environment

publication date: Feb 20, 2008

When we think of ways in which we can minimise our carbon footprint and change our behaviour, what comes into your mind? Is it cutting down on flights, recycling, using public transport more and our cars less? Sarah Webb of the Chartered Institute of Housing attemtps to answer these questions.

With all the recent talk about green taxes, aviation surcharges and levies on gas-guzzling cars, it may come as a surprise to learn that buildings account for nearly 50 per cent of all carbon emissions in the UK. Residential homes alone are responsible for around half of that amount. If we are to meet government targets of cutting carbon emissions by 60 per cent by 2050, then housing and indeed the entire built environment can make a significant contribution in the fight to stem global warming.

You may wonder what is being done to address this. The government has certainly begun to grapple with this issue and in April this year introduced a Code for Sustainable Homes, a voluntary code for house builders that sets a higher standard for energy efficiency. The government also set a target in the last budget report that all new houses built by 2016 would be zero carbon and Gordon Brown recently promised to build 20 new Eco-towns around the country.

Whilst the current government emphasis to increase the environmental performance of new build is laudable, it is in danger of neglecting the biggest problem facing us – emissions from existing homes. In the most recent government survey of house condition, it was revealed that 3.7 million privately owned or privately rented homes failed the Decent Homes Standard on thermal comfort, meaning that these homes are inadequately insulated and expensive and difficult to heat. Poorly insulated and inefficiently heated homes leave their owners and tenants with high fuel bills, and leak a large amount of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

The Chartered Institute of Housing welcomed the recent government inquiry into tackling emissions from the existing housing stock. Since newly built homes account for only one per cent annually, tackling the existing stock is crucial if significant carbon emission reductions are to be achieved. The issue becomes even more pressing given the fact that the vast majority (around three quarters) of current homes will still be in use
by 2050.

The social housing sector has been at the forefront of the sustainability agenda for quite some time and is responsible for some of the most eco-friendly developments in the country and has also made significant inroads to increase the energy efficiency of its existing stock – social homes are on the whole more energy efficient then their privately owned counterparts.

Zero-carbon standard

So how can this impetus to build new social housing to high eco-standards and to apply a zero-carbon standard to all new housing by 2016 be translated into higher standards for all UK housing? The costs of significantly reducing the carbon footprint of existing homes are substantial; however, the threat of global warming does not leave us much room for manoeuvre. There needs to be a comprehensive government programme to reduce carbon emissions from existing homes by introducing a Code for Sustainable Homes for Existing Stock and by finding ways to encourage home owners to upgrade the energy efficiency of their homes. One possibility is to have homes inspected for Energy Performance Certificates rather like an MOT, on a yearly or two yearly basis. This would need to be backed up by grants and government support for people on low and moderate incomes. Tackling properties with poor energy efficiency will cut carbon emissions and have significant impact on reducing the costs of heating for some of the poorer households.

Despite the inroads made, there is no room for complacency, since the threat of irreversible climate change is here to stay for the foreseeable future. It is also important to note that the overall picture in terms of adopting high environmental standards and more importantly seeing environmental sustainability as a core business objective rather than an add-on is quite patchy. We believe it is high time for the ‘green’ agenda to become mainstream across the sector.

Over the coming months the Chartered Institute of Housing will be consulting with the housing sector on the most effective way of achieving this goal.

For more information please contact The Institute of Chartered Housing at Octavia House, Westwood Way, Coventry CV4 8JP. Web: www.cih.org