The new green standard announced by the Housing Secretary this week, aimed at tackling climate change whilst keeping household bills low, is welcomed by BRE.

Gillian Charlesworth, Chief Executive of BRE Group said: “We share Government’s ambition to increase the supply of green, environmentally friendly homes that people want in their local communities.

With the impacts of climate change already disrupting people’s homelife, through flooding and overheating, we must take every opportunity to ensure new homes have as little impact upon our climate whilst also addressing societies changing needs.

Increasingly, we are seeing consumers wanting more from their homes and their awareness around climate and environmental issues is gaining momentum. Being able to provide new homes that meet these expectations will certainly help housebuilders achieve the Government’s ambitions on housing numbers.

BRE has actively supported Government proposals in raising the minimum regulations through the development of SAP – the calculation methodology that sits behind Part L of the Building Regulations, and our world class research and testing on ventilation and overheating has fed into these important proposals. In addition, BRE continues to support the ambition of Government around the implementation of the Future Homes Standard.

While having an appropriate minimum regulatory requirement is important, it is critical that we support a culture where going beyond this minimum is encouraged and this will mean that housebuilders will be able to deliver the next generation of high performing homes more quickly. The National Design Guide draws together many of the issues important to communities, much of which is reflected in our own benchmarks of BREEAM Communities and Home Quality Mark, which are included within the Design Guide.

BREEAM and Home Quality Mark provide the tools and assessment frameworks to improve quality and sustainability for our new homes. They provide trust and reassurance to developers, consumers, local authorities and the financial sector through Green investment, commercial lending and personal finance.

We must make sure these positive developments apply to all homes, not just newly built ones. BRE analysis shows that the cost of poor housing to society remains significant and so we must expect the same standards for existing homes, as well as homes which are created from other buildings.

BRE will continue to work with Government, and the sector as a whole, to provide solutions that help deliver more high quality, sustainable homes”.