Wildlife group blasts builders' 'disastrous' green record

The country's biggest housebuilders have been named and shamed by a government-endorsed report showing the "disastrous" environmental record of volume builders.

The World Wildlife Fund report ranked the UK's top 13 housebuilders out of 100 for their performance on green issues.

It is part of a WWF campaign to ensure 1 million sustainable homes are built between 2002 and 2012.

The report marked the companies according to the impact their homes had on the environment and wider society, judging them on a range of issues such as whether they were thermally efficient, used equipment to minimise water usage and gave the public green information.

The developers' performance was first assessed from publicly available material about the firms. Then their scores were updated after interviews with the companies last summer.

Barratt, Bellway and Wilson Bowden were the poorest performers. Wilson Bowden, which came bottom with just 12 out of 100, refused to cooperate with the WWF.

Countryside Properties, Berkeley Group and Taylor Woodrow were the best performers.

WWF campaign director Paul King said: "It's a disaster. We're about to embark on the biggest housing programme for a generation. The homes we build now will determine the environmental impact we'll be having in 100 years – they have to be built well."

King maintained that housebuilders could lessen their environmental impact with a relatively small investment. WWF figures have shown that a "very good" rating in the Eco-Homes system run by research body BRE added just 1-2% to development costs but allowed savings of 30% on energy costs and 40% on water use in the finished homes.

King also called on the government to intervene more in planning and building regulations to ensure sustainability.

Alan Cherry, chairman of top-rated Countryside Properties, said: "Clearly some companies need to be doing a lot more – but I think they will. They won't stay in business long if they don't deliver what consumers want."

Countryside developed the Greenwich Millennium Village in London, which won an "excellent" Eco-Homes rating. Cherry said: "This kind of issue is more and more important to consumers."

A spokesman for Bellway said the company had already begun to address the issues raised.

Barratt and Wilson Bowden were not available for comment.