| The idea for this summit arose out of the joint work of
our three departments on the Energy White Paper. It became very clear to
us that construction of new buildings and the refurbishment of existing
ones is central to delivering the step change from a high consuming,
high carbon economy - to an energy efficient, low carbon one.
Government has a crucial role putting the regulation in place and
creating the right market framework. And our role today is to bring the
key contributors in the industry together - right the way up the value
chain. I'm delighted to see you all here today.
This is what we need to achieve -
- 2010 - need energy efficiency savings of around 10 million tonnes
of carbon from homes and businesses to meet the domestic CO2 target
- 2020 - need a further 15-25 million tonnes of carbon reduction
- 2050 - need to have had a fundamental change in the way buildings
are designed and built and communities work if we are going to hit
the 60% target that was recommended by the Royal Commissions on
Environmental Pollution.
In practical terms this means shifting to better-insulated buildings
and new boilers right now. And from 2005 - much more stringent building
regulations for new homes. These are the easy wins - the low hanging
fruit.
Beyond that, we will put in place, in partnership with you, new
buildings standards. And we will see new heating and lighting systems
and new technologies like LED lighting and micro-generation, not as the
exception, but as the norm.
My interest in this agenda is:
- First, to create the homes and workplaces people want to live and
work in
- Second, to meet the targets for a low carbon economy that we set
out in the Energy White Paper; and
- Third, to create world-class building services and industrial
growth for the future. Developing skills, services and products that
we can export all over the world.
We need to harness the outstanding science base we have in this
country and get the benefits into our businesses and into our
manufacturing industry. Last year we invested £2bn in science funding
and we're increasing it to £3bn by 2006.
The Innovation Review, that David Sainsbury and I are leading, will
help us to turn 'invented in Britain' into 'built in Britain'.
To give us a picture of the kind of innovations we will need to see,
DTI Foresight is working with the Carbon Trust on a Low Carbon
Communities Study. When they report at the end of this year we will be
able to identify what we need to do to generalise some of the ideas we
have seen today in the video.
Linking up with Universities is key to the changes we need to make.
We are putting £1.6 million funding into a five-year Centre of
Excellence project with UMIST and Strathclyde University to build up a
critical mass of R&D expertise focussing on getting renewable energy
onto the distribution networks. The centre will provide vital knowledge
and support to the renewables industry, finding new and smarter ways of
integrating renewable energy with networks across the UK.
The role of Government is crucial. Implementing the carbon emissions
trading system in line with the European Directive will have a big
impact. And we need to give you enough time to pull through the
innovation and learn new skills.
Of course, as Government we can also help you by being an
'intelligent customer.' We buy 40% of construction output in the UK. We
know that we have made mistakes in the past and we are determined to
improve. We are your single biggest customer and we are about to get
greener.
By the middle of next year we will have in place minimum
sustainability standards for all publicly funded public sector
procurement of built environments. These will form part of a
comprehensive set of clear minimum standards covering all aspects of
construction where we are the client. Making the government one of your
most forward looking and value focused customers. Central government
departments will be driving these standards through to all our partners
regionally and locally. And the same standards will apply to new
leasehold and PFI projects. We'll be looking for better and better value
for money in public procurement. A new generation of green schools and
green hospitals. Buildings that are energy, water and waste efficient
save money over their lifetime. And this 'lifetime cost' is, for us, the
new 'bottom line'.
There are already some great examples. Like Middlestone Moor and
Catchgate Primary Schools in Durham. Where partnership and innovation
delivered two wonderful schools on time and on budget. Schools that -
- Maximise the use of natural light, which teachers and pupils want
and which is also cheaper;
- Harvest rainwater to flush their toilets; and
- Generate their own energy with a 20KW wind turbine and a solar
photovoltaic system.
These are the schools of the future. And the children and parents
exposed to them will be more demanding consumers.
In my own department we source almost a third of our electricity for
our headquarters buildings from renewable sources and next month I will
be formally switching on an installation of photovoltaic tiles at the
Insolvency Service - the first such scheme to be installed on a
Government Building in London. I'm very pleased that a DTI Agency is
leading the way. So we are changing but we need to do more.
The standards will help, and we are already galvanising support
across Whitehall and across the UK. We've had a terrific response from
the Regional Development Agencies.
Increasingly we are seeing schools, offices, housing estates,
powering themselves and, sometimes, feeding any excess power into the
network. We've simplified connection and metering protocols and we've
changed the electricity regulations to help make this happen. We're
working with Ofgem to get the kind of distribution network we need so
that this becomes the norm.
So it's about innovation. Innovation in business, in government and
in consumer behaviour. Consumers are changing their habits. They know
that efficient buildings will save them money. BedZED is an excellent
example. Shortlisted for the Stirling Prize for Architecture and winner
of the RIBA Journal Sustainability Award - the judges recognised that
BedZED
"is far more than simply a demonstration project for the
sustainability message; it is a powerful incentive for the housing
industry to change its way of thinking and building."
We want developers, investors and mortgage lenders to rise to the
challenge and come up with innovate approaches to match.
In my own constituency in Leicester the council are upgrading their
inherited housing stock - putting new windows and doors into thousands
of older properties. The council set up their own factory and trained
unemployed young people to make the fittings they needed because they
could not source them in such quantities and at the speed they needed
them. The only complaints they have received are from the people who
haven't had their houses done yet. And the people I visit are already
living healthier, in warmer homes and paying lower fuel bills.
I'm delighted to see the partnership between government and the
industry working together today. I think you are going to have some
excellent discussions in the breakout session this afternoon and I look
forward to coming back later for the panel discussion.
Thank you.
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