Friends of the Earth and ACE welcomed the Sixth Amendments to the Building Regulations which were introduced in April and recognize the energy savings which will result from them. However, in Scotland nine out of ten houses fail to meet this new standard and at the rate new houses are being built it will take one hundred years until the Scottish housing stock is up to the current standard.  This is not an acceptable situation.  Scotland is committed to achieving an equitable contribution towards the UK’s Kyoto targets; this will not be possible unless the energy efficiency of existing buildings is tackled.  Energy use in buildings is responsible for around 40% of all UK greenhouse gas emissions, simply building new energy efficient buildings will not be good enough.  Friends of the Earth and ACE believe that any new building standards must cover existing buildings in some meaningful way.

Response to Proposals for Improving Building Standards