Industry tackles zero carbon deadlines

House builders must sign service agreements with energy and telecoms providers at the design stage if zero carbon developments are to meet government regulations, according to Barratt CEO Mark Clare.

Mr Clare, who was recently appointed chair of the zero carbon commttee for the UK Green Building Council (UK-GBC), said: "I can see multi-utility and energy service companies in the future being formed to cope with the demand for on-site energy.

"This will be a new step for the house building industry. Big firms will be able to do this but smaller firms will need to look at a third-party provider." He also ruled out house builders adding energy supply to their remit, reported Construction News.

Government Regulations require that by 2016 new developments will have to provide theirn energy through a local source to achieve zero carbon. Off site sources will not count.

In related news, a UK-GBC report has found that 2020 could be set as the deadline to achieve zero carbon non-domestic buildings, reported Contract Journal (CJ).

Commissioned by Communities and Local Government, the Carbon Reductions in New Non-Domestic Buildings report also suggests that the additional cost of building to zero carbon will be between 5% and 30% of current baseline costs, said CJ.

The UK-GBC said the deadline of zero carbon by 2020 is "challenging yet achievable" as long as a timeframe similar to that of the Code for Sustainable Homes is adopted. It also advised the government to compile a database on energy use in non-domestic buildings to improve on existing data.