Major housebuilders told to share commercial secrets

Major housebuilders have been told to reveal their commercial secrets to help smaller developers meet energy efficiency targets.

The Energy Savings Trust (EST) has asked developers it works with to "open their books" and show others the mistakes made and lessons learned on the road to zero carbon.

The trust expects large developers to shoulder the financial costs associated with experimenting with new technology and pass the information on to others.

EST housing development manager Mat Colmer said: "It is imperative because smaller housebuilders have limited resources and experience, which means you have to go for the easy targets."

Home Builders Federation technical director Dave Mitchell said collaboration in the construction industry was at an all-time high and developers had formed groups to liaise with suppliers on how to reach targets.

He said: "There have been a lot of talks because the industry realises we have a serious problem. If you asked me five years ago if this would happen, I would have said definitely not. But times are changing and with the current agenda you have got to be like this."

He said developers had also invested in costly high-profile energy efficient projects such as the BRE Innovation Park to "bring the public agenda forward", explore costs and garner positive PR.

Under the EST policy, Osborne Homes has agreed to allow the group to monitor the properties it built to level five of the Code for Sustainable Homes in Nutfield, Surrey. The EST will monitor the energy performance of the homes for two years and publish the results.

Osborne divisional director Colin Mitchell said it also planned to release the developments' financial and technical information.

He said: "There are commercial reasons for it, in that if we explain to a client 'this is the cost and way to do it', their expectation is in the right place. They also do not have to reinvent the wheel."

Good Homes Alliance technical manager Simon Corbey said: "Ten years ago these were commercial secrets, but now we are finding them out. The market is very open and big builders want smaller ones to learn quickly."