'Green' Building Methods Gain Momentum

The recent Ecobuild exhibition was a powerful sign that ‘green’ building techniques are gaining momentum. In 5 years the exhibition has seen visitor numbers sour from 1,000 to 40,000 this year. No longer are these visitors predominantly eco-warriors but more likely to be tradespeople and building material suppliers. The window industry was also well represented this year at all levels of the supply chain. This helped emphasise the important role the fenestration sector plays in the overall goal of increasing the energy efficiency of housing. However Ecobuild did deliver a rather nasty sting in the tail for the window industry. As highlighted by Epwin’s David Hurst in this issue, the Government chose Ecobuild to launch the Warm Homes, Greener Homes Strategy, which is a supplement to the Decent Homes Strategy. This strategy aims to make Britain’s homes more comfortable, warmer, cheaper to run by cutting emissions from UK properties by 29% by 2020. Surely a fantastic opportunity for the window industry to help out with? Unfortunately it looks like the window industry will receive no official help from the Government. The majority of the activity will be directed to loft and cavity wall insulation in a three stage plan that will aim to have all practical lofts and cavity walls insulated by 2015. As an industry we can’t really do much else to force the hand of the Government. Surely we have a solution to the target Ed Miliband, Energy and Climate Secretary, has set when he says: “Making homes more energy efficient will help protect people from upward pressure on bills, tackle climate change, and make us less reliant on imported energy.”

However, positive news could be on the horizon with the latest announcement from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors saying that more people are putting their properties on the market. The strongest sales expectations for the next three months have been reported in the north. House sales are always a key driver for window replacements, so lets hope these expectations turn into sales.

John Cowie
Editor
Email: john.cowie@windowsactive.co.uk