Green houses

The construction sector has been hit harder than most by the economic turmoil of the past couple of years, and with the private sector curbing spending, and the public sector restraining investment, it faces a long and arduous road to recovery.

But despite its travails, one area of the construction industry is in relatively rude health, and ambitious carbon reduction targets are driving the development of a range of technologies and techniques that promise to usher in a new era of low-carbon housing.

The government is playing a critical role. The CRC energy-efficiency scheme has been introduced, building regulations have been tightened and the plans for all new homes to be zero carbon by 2016 have been clarified. The coalition government, which claims to be the ’greenest government ever’, last year announced the Green Deal, which will be introduced in 2012 to address the lack of investment in energy-saving measures.

Alongside this has been the implementation of the feed-in tariff a scheme that provides money in return for domestic energy generated from renewable sources. The government has also recently outlined details of its Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) policy in an attempt to improve the way heat is generated in buildings and homes. This will include financial support for a range of technologies and fuel uses, including solid and gaseous biomass, solar thermal and ground source heat pumps.