It is true to say that eco-friendly decorating alone will not transform your
business profile overnight into a sustainable company, but will credit you in
part with your commitment to understanding sustainability as an integral profile
of your companies ecological footprint.
The potential advertising appeal this will open by far outweighs the expense,
with not only the companies profile, but a healthier working environment with
all the associated benefits.
There is great momentum in government to push its commitment to
sustainability in conjunction with its ambitious house building project under
the communities plan, with regards to legislation standards set for the new
build projects.
The Housing Corporation for example, now requires all new homes they fund to
achieve an EcoHomes 'Very Good' rating at a minimum (over the last two years
alone this has advanced from a 'Pass' and then 'Good'); English Partnerships
requires a minimum BREEAN or EcoHomes rating of 'Very Good' for all developments
on it's land, and for the Millennium Communities has set targets of 'Excellent'.
What's more in broader development terms, sustainability appraisals now form an
integral part of the statutory Planning Framework, under the Planning and
Compulsory Purchase Act 2004. There is also a growing demand, emanating from the
private sector, for sustainability appraisals as part of a business case. They
provide a good way for a construction company or developer to show they are
engaged with the sustainability agenda, and to set themselves apart from other
competitors, both in tendering for projects and in selling buildings (BBF Vol15
No1).
Add to this the Housing Bill, The Sustainable and Secure Buildings Act
(Private members bill with vast potential environmental standards for existing
buildings), The Code for Sustainable Buildings (CSB) which was called for by the
ODPM's Sustainable Buildings Task Group and its easy to see, not if, but when
change is ahead (BBF Vol14 No 3).
The new Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC's) legislation which will
exclusively affect the manufacture of paints, is to be faded in over two
tiers, the first being in 2007 and the second is to be fully applied by 2010.
This legislation will introduce a limit on the level of VOC's in paint and will
affect mainly the low aromatic type of solvent, white spirit. This being yet
another target in the Kyoto commitment period to reducing CO2 emissions
within the construction industry, and, an indication on the path ahead to the
reduction of greenhouse gases within the remit of just one type of building
material.
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