Buildings: Carbon Emissions

Dr. Gibson
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what discussions his Department has had with the Department for Communities and Local Government on the proposal in the Energy White Paper to increase the proportion of heat generated through less carbon-intensive technologies; and how this proposal will be implemented via the building regulations.

Malcolm Wicks
The Energy White Paper is the result of detailed collaboration between all Departments of State, including the Department for Communities and Local Government. In it we said that we will conduct further work into the policy options available to reduce the carbon impact of heat and its use. This work is being led by the Office for Climate Change and officials from my Department and CLG are engaged in the work.

The Government have signalled the intention to further amend the Building Regulations energy efficiency requirements in 2010, 2013 and 2016. The aim will be to set higher standards that are practical and achieve the Government’s targets while maintaining sufficient design flexibility enabling cost-effective compliance without unacceptable technical risks. This approach will take into account lower carbon heating.

In the normal way there will be public consultations before any changes are actually made.