Benchmark Study on Green Buildings - Royal Architectural Institute ...

country. Many new towns are in high growth areas and will be the focus for larger
populations that will need to be served by vibrant, well-thought-out town centres offering
modern job opportunities as well as being at the heart of the local community. Currently,
Town Centre Regeneration Program proposals are being processed for Basildon, Crawley,
Harlow, Hatfield, Peterborough, Skelmersdale, Stevenage, and Telford.
Norwich and Peterborough Building Society (NPBS) & Ecology Building Society:
The Norwich and Peterborough Building Society (NPBS) offers financial support and
advice to people interested in doing home improvements. In 1998, the NPBS began
offering green mortgages to encourage homeowners to make their homes more energy
efficient. Now, for every green mortgage taken out, the NBPS plants 40 trees. The NBPS
offers loans as well as their green mortgages, and both have reduced interest rates. The
Ecology Building Society is another organization offering loans and mortgages at
reduced rates to people planning to do home renovations. Additionally, many local
housing authorities and associations offer grants of varying sizes to people who want to
clean up and use an abandoned building, or people who want to tear down an abandoned
building to make way for new sustainable buildings.
Waterwise:
Since 1996, water companies in England and Wales have had a duty to promote water
efficiency and help customers manage demand. In September 2005, Waterwise, an
industry-funded conservation initiative, was launched with the specific aim of promoting
water efficiency. Waterwise is promoting a collective effort by industry, consumers,
Government, regulators, and others to save water and to ensure a sustainable water supply
for the future. The key to water efficiency is in reducing waste, not restricting use.
Consumers can help reduce waste by making small behavioural changes and by choosing
more water efficient products. Waterwise and its website provide all sorts of information
and resources to help people save as much water as possible. These resources include
water saving tips, a list of water saving devices, extensive research projects, a free online
library of water saving resources, and links to other sites promoting water efficiency. So
far, results have been promising. In the past 5 years, over 270,000 supply pipes –
connecting a property to the water main – were repaired, 2 million cistern devices were
distributed (to reduce unnecessarily high use of water from toilet flushing), and 15
million self-audit packs were provided to help customers take steps themselves to use
water more efficiently.
The “London Plan”:
On June 1 2006, London released a new plan to drastically cut carbon dioxide emissions.
Under the revised ‘London Plan,’ all new buildings in the city will have to generate 20%
of the energy they consume through onsite renewable sources, way up from the 10% level
previously required. Other revisions to London’s development plan include statutory
carbon cut targets of 20% by 2015 and 60% by 2050, from the 1990 base level, and
radical changes to the city’s development, energy and transport policies. This marks the
first time that legally binding energy and emissions targets have been set for London. To
help existing buildings and developers deal with these new requirements, incentives will
be provided by local governments and will cover things like building retrofits and new
124