BCA: Housing green paper must set coherent government strategy

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Wednesday, 25, Jul 2007 12:00

The British Cement Association has today welcomed the publication of the government’s Green Paper on Housing, but has cautioned the government to think through its strategy and avoid short term fixes.

BCA Chief Executive, Mike Gilbert, said ‘While we welcome the Government’s latest proposals, the cement and concrete industries need a coherent Government strategy that will allow them to plan and build for climate change now, making the most of innovative design and the intelligent use of materials.

We are already responding to the challenge of climate change and the delivery of zero carbon homes. We strongly believe that factoring in rising temperatures when planning and building new homes is the right approach to take. Concrete buildings are adaptable to future climates. Their thermal mass properties mean they can absorb and release heat which reduces the occurrence of overheating so that less energy is needed for cooling which saves CO2 emissions over their lifetime. This is important as currently some 27%, of the UK’s CO2 emissions arise from residential properties.

Concrete also offers other solutions and benefits as it is a good flood proof material for ground floor construction in the development of flood plains, is naturally fire resistant, has good acoustic performance and is durable. Concrete basements can also help solve the housing density problem.

We also welcome the Prime Minister’s recent announcement that the UK will soon propose EU-wide reduced value-added tax (VAT) rates for greener products. This should provide new incentives for people wanting to buy environmentally friendly products. We are pleased the government has listened to us on this.’

Notes to editors:

The British Cement Association (BCA) is the trade and research organisation that represents the interests of the United Kingdom’s cement industry in its relations with Her Majesty’s Government, the European Union and relevant organisations in the United Kingdom. The members of the BCA (Tarmac Buxton Lime and Cement, Castle Cement, CEMEX UK and Lafarge Cement UK) are the major domestic manufacturers of Portland cement producing over 90% of the cement sold in the UK.

The cement industry has an annual turnover of £775 million and is a major supplier to the construction industry. It employs around 3,500 people directly with a further 15,000 jobs depending upon its operations.