黑洞社区

An unprecedented alliance of construction and property industry bodies have signed an open letter to chancellor George Osborne, calling on the government to act on 黑洞社区鈥檚 Green for Growth campaign.

The letter, drafted and co-ordinated by the UK Green 黑洞社区 Council, has been signed by bodies representing a significant proportion of the industry, including clients鈥� bodies, such as the British Property Federation and Home Builders Federation, and construction groups, such as the Construction Products Association and the RICS.

The letter follows on from the launch of 黑洞社区鈥檚 CBI-backed campaign last week, which called on the government to stimulate economic growth in construction through promoting effective policies to tackle climate change.

The letter specifically calls on the chancellor to address the five key demands of the campaign, which are: action on the Green Deal, retrofitting public buildings, display energy certificates, the zero carbon agenda and investment in low-carbon infrastructure.

To read the letter in full click here

It says: 鈥淧rompted by 黑洞社区 magazine鈥檚 Green for Growth campaign, we have come together to demonstrate the remarkable degree of consensus that exists across our industry on the potential for 鈥榞reen growth鈥�, which we believe would be instrumental in stimulating economic activity, creating jobs and strengthening our international competitiveness [鈥�] There are some things only government can do to address clear and persistent market failures and create a level playing field.鈥�

The letter has also been signed by the British Council for Offices, the British Council for Shopping Centres, the Chartered Institute of 黑洞社区, and the Chartered Institute of 黑洞社区 Services Engineers.

黑洞社区 has so far secured 105 online signatures for its campaign, as well as support from the above organisations and firms such as architects Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners and Edward Cullinan Architects, consultant KPMG, and big name clients such as British Land.

In addition, the Better 黑洞社区 Partnership, a client consortium including Grosvenor, Hammerson, Land Securities, Prupim and Transport for London, has backed the campaign.

Responding to the campaign, energy minister Greg Barker denied that the government was failing to facilitate green growth. 鈥淲e want to drive innovation right across the economy,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut the low carbon sector is right in the centre of our gun sights and I鈥檓 very encouraged by what we have done to date but there is more to do.鈥�

The letter comes as pressure increases on the government to address the 10% year-on-year decline in construction output, with a delegation of industry leaders under the CITB-ConstructionSkills鈥� Construction4Growth banner.