Plans for a national coalition to lobby for sustainable buildings took a step forward this week when research group BRE launched a prospectus and called for founding members.

The main objective of the proposed UK Green Building Council is to bring all existing sustainable construction bodies under one umbrella to act as a champion for green buildings.

Members of the UK-GBC would include industry stakeholders, research and technology organisations and government bodies at national and local level.

The UK-GBC will be based on an American model that has been operating for 11 years. Thirty other countries are also considering setting up national councils and becoming members of a World Green Building Council.

Martin Wyatt, BRE chief executive, said: "If real transformation is to take place on the scale required, a national coalition is essential to promote and champion the design and construction of sustainable buildings."