Green housing targets 'biggest ever change' to construction industry

Green housing targets set by the government are the biggest change ever made to the construction industry, according to one expert.

Gavin Hodgson from the Building Research Establishment says that the target that all new homes will be zero-carbon by 2016 is a tough one, but nonetheless it is a reachable goal.

"It's not just a case of bolting everything together and it works you have to have the background knowledge and you have to know how to design a house realistically to get to these [target energy efficiency] levels," he said.

"And that is going to require this timeline to get there by 2016. Wales wants to do it by 2011, which is flabbergasting really."

He said that local authorities should begin by setting themselves targets and working out cost-effective designs and promoting them well to the public. Training also needs to be provided on the ground level.


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