Sustainable products regulations to be drawn up

Products specifiers will work from European standards on sustainability after the government gave the go-ahead for recommendations from the Sustainable Buildings Task Group.

The group today recommended cutting energy and water use in new buildings by 25% and reducing waste and use of materials.

Construction Products Association head of environment and industry performance Rita Singh said recommendations on energy efficiency will form part of the revised Part L regulations.

She added the government plans to set up a working group to produce environmental product guidelines for specifiers. The scheme will take into account the combined environmental cost of the whole building and look at sustainability of building materials. “We want to move away from an A to C type of rating and look at the whole building.”

The group is expected to develop the code by the end of 2006.

Singh said the new code would be similar to the revised Green Guide and Envest 2 being developed by the Building Research Establishment.