A spokesperson for the DETR said Gardner & Theobald would consult interested parties over the next few weeks to uncover whether the promised innovations will happen.
The inquiry is to be chaired by government architecture champion Stuart Lipton, chairman of the panel that chose the Taywood/Countryside consortium to develop the 13 ha village in 1997.
Prescott ordered the inquiry two weeks ago after lead architect HTA Architects resigned.
In a letter to Lipton, HTA director Ben Derbyshire cited irreconcilable differences with client Taywood/Countryside. He claimed the latter was not attempting to achieve the energy savings and innovations promised in the winning bid.
Alan Cherry, chairman of the Taywood/Countryside joint venture, responded to the annoucement of the inquiry by saying: "We expect it to compare our legal and contractual obligations with what we are doing. Until it has, people should not be speculating or making remarks about issues raised in the letter from HTA Architects.
"We will contest the contents of that letter. Gardiner & Theobald is going to talk to all the parties involved in the project that have anything worthwhile to say." Gardiner & Theobald refused to comment, but Cherry said he hoped the inquiry would be concluded in two weeks.
He said that he was in constant touch with project masterplanner and concept architect Ralph Erskine. "Ralph Erskine is continuing with the project," he said.
Cherry also confirmed that epr had been appointed interior architect for the 91-unit first phase, designed by HTA Architects. This phase, and the Proctor Matthews-designed second phase of 127 units, are due to be approved by Greenwich council's planning board on Monday.
Cherry denied that epr would design further phases of the village. He said: "No one is replacing HTA Architects as such. The roles of architects change as the project progresses. Epr is involved and we are possibly going to expand its involvement."
Meanwhile, the lead consultants on the Greenwich Millennium Village were this week due to attend a two-day value engineering workshop, overseen by an external facilitator. Richard Hodgkinson, associate at Taywood Engineering, said: "A range of topics will be discussed such as flat layouts, cladding systems and how to maximise the value of the project."
Hodgkinson said such workshops had been held at intervals throughout the project. He said: "A whole series of processes are in place on the project to do with factoring in innovations, assessing their viability, their impact on the project, how they are delivered, what procurement routes are employed, and how we will measure the difference between current practice and what we are doing."
