Buildings not forgotten in Greenpeace Green Recovery
The built environment is often side-lined in net-zero climate action plans for other headline savings such as transport. We are therefore greatly encouraged to see that buildings have been addressed and that Passivhaus has been identified as a solution for delivering green buildings in the latest report published by Greenpeace.
Plans for a greener, cleaner, fairer future are detailed in their latest manifesto titled A Green Recovery: how we get there. The report calls for transformative recovery packages, significant funding and radical policy changes across a range of priority areas – clean transport, green buildings, smart power, nature and a circular economy.
It follows an announcement from the UK Government on a post-Covid19 recovery and hopes to add detail on how to ensure green actions are at its core.
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Nations will begin to emerge from lockdown and look to fire up their economies once again. When that happens it will be the duty of every responsible government to… rebuild in a way that will stand the test of time. That means investing in industries and infrastructure that can turn the tide on climate change. And it means doing all we can to boost resilience by shaping economies that can withstand everything nature throws at us.’
Boris Johnson, UK Prime Minister, April 2020
Green buildings (excerpt from Greenpeace report)The UK has the least energy-efficient housing stock in Western Europe, which means high heating costs for low-income households. This contributes to poor health, costing the NHS up to £2 billion a year in England. Kick-starting a nationwide home and public sector energy efficiency programme will save vast amounts of money, including from people’s energy bills, and help end fuel poverty. It would also unlock billions in private investment and create thousands of skilled jobs across the UK. A new policy framework should be introduced to ensure all new buildings are installed with solar panels and required to meet Passivhaus standards, or equivalent, by 2023. By 2030, the standard for new buildings should be even more ambitious, requiring a high level of energy efficiency, alongside meeting net-zero emissions for all power and heating applications. Along with creating jobs, these measures will make the UK a world leader in green building design and will give savings for owners of new homes every year on energy bills. |
We support the target of all new buildings to be zero carbon by 2030, with Passivhaus as our preferred method for achieving that goal, rather than solely relying on renewables. Learn why in an on-demand video.
The Trust would welcome the opportunity to continue working with the Government to help drive up building Standards across the UK and tackle the Climate Emergency. Recent adversity has generated no better opportunity for radical change. The time to act is now.
Further Information
A green recovery: how we get there
Previous PHT story: Build Back Better – 18 May 2020
Passivhaus: A route to zero carbon
4th June 2020
Get involved with the UK Passivhaus community
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