The Movement for Innovation is pressing to incorporate a building's environmental performance into the planning process.
The move was announced last week at the launch of Rethinking Construction's environmental performance indicators.

Architect Rab Bennetts, chairman of the movement's sustainability working group, said pressure would be put on local authorities to "take up EPIs as part of the planning process".

This would mean permission being granted only if the schemes met set environmental standards.

The six indicators aim to promote sustainable construction. They are:

  • operational energy (measured as carbon dioxide emissions)
  • embodied energy in construction materials
  • mains water consumption
  • site waste
  • transportation of materials to site
  • biodiversity (a project's effect on wildlife).
The indicators will allow the environmental performance of offices, domestic dwellings, hospitals, educational buildings and retail units to be benchmarked.

Speaking at the launch, Alan Crane, chairman of M4I, said organisations could demonstrate their commitment to sustainability by monitoring their performance.

He added that respect for people performance indicators "were in the pipeline" to deal with the social dimension of construction.