Save energy, rethink green
The House Builders Association comments on the Government's announcement on the Green Deal.
As the government axed Green Deal, several industry professionals are unsure how this will impact green technology. The HBA is extremely interested to see what the government strategy might be as concern had always existed in relation to the deliverability and long term future of the Green Deal.
HBA members welcome announcements by the Department for Energy and Climate Change, especially about working with the construction industry to agree a new "value-for-money approach". With allowable solutions also scrapped, the house building industry is in a better shape to move forward and design a strategy that works for all stakeholders.
The HBA recognises the challenging decisions taken by the government in respect to the green deal and allowable solutions, but would highlight that house builders and other stakeholders need to work together to produce a future strategy. The Green Deal was previously devised with little or no consideration of SMEs and they should be encouraged to devise and produce new schemes. Work by the Zero Carbon HUB and Rob Pannell has assisted HBA members to continue building some of the most energy efficient homes in Europe and we would hope their input continues. Recent research by the Zero Carbon HUB highlighted a large increase in overheating dwellings. The HBA believes they are in a key position to identify where a British strategy may differ from EU regulation.
Retrofitting has proven to be the most difficult of policies to tackle and we expect any future strategy to stimulate this industry as well as take up. As prices for solar technology decrease take up has increased, the government needs to make sure any future technologies are not only viable but supported properly for builders and householders – through policy certainty, if not through subsidy. In the past energy efficiency has experienced a piecemeal approach, this has stifled deliverability.
The Green Deal’s fate was sealed very early on when the legislative framework, against industry’s advice, did not allow for SME involvement. Efforts to involve SMEs later were, ironically, a poor retrofit job. This cannot be allowed to happen again, now that we have an opportunity to develop a strategy that appreciates the realities of the marketplace and has broad stakeholder interest.
