Jul 14 2005
In a recent launch by the UK’s Climate Change and Environment Minister, Elliot Morley, the UK and Swedish governments have joined forces on a new collaborative initiative that promotes sustainable building and construction.
The initiative is designed to highlight the use of environment-friendly technology and practices, bringing together current examples of joint UK-Sweden work.
The construction and use of buildings accounts for around half of all greenhouse gas emissions in the UK. The building and demolition industries also create more than three times the amount of waste produced by all UK households combined.
The UK government is aiming to tackle the energy use in buildings through the revision of the Building Regulations, the Sustainable Buildings Code and through the implementation of the Energy Performance Buildings Directive. The new Code for Sustainable Buildings will raise standards for everything from water efficiency and waste, to the use of materials and energy. In Swedish legislation, similar standards have been introduced and there is further work going on to improve regulations.
Commenting on the UK-Sweden joint venture a CIOB sustainability spokesperson said, "The CIOB welcomes collaborative solutions to sustainability, like the UK-Sweden initiative and we would like to encourage further ventures with other countries to transfer knowledge and experiences across the globe."
"Sustainability and the way we look after and interact with our environment, is not the problem of just one industry or just one country but crosses all those boundaries. But each industry and country should recognise the part they play in the solution."