650,000 wasted in heating bills by new homes every year

    /24-7PressRelease/ - London, UK, June 30, 2005 - A new report commissioned by the Energy Saving Trust reveals that new homes emit 6,000 tonnes more carbon dioxide each year than they should be as a result of non-compliance with minimum air tightness standards.

With around 1 million new homes set to be built over the next 5 years, over 30,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions released into the atmosphere could be saved each year.

Philip Sellwood, CEO of Energy Saving Trust said: "Non-complying homes emit 14 per cent more carbon dioxide emissions than complying homes. The scheduled inclusion of mandatory pressure testing in the building regulations in January 2006 will put an end to this non-compliance at a minimal cost."

The UK government is falling behind on its climate change targets for 2010 and is currently reviewing its Climate Change Programme to look at where further policies could make up this shortfall. It's therefore imperative to build to high standards now if the Government is going to reach even tougher targets set for 2050.

The report pre-empts an announcement from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister which will detail the changes to Building Regulations due for January 2006.

Other key points that the Energy Saving Trust believes should be included in these changes include:

• Implementing schedules building regulations in January 2006
• Keeping the target as close to a 25% improvement over 2002 standards as possible
• Having a large-scale training, dissemination and publicity programme to avoid any delays
• Keeping compliance monitoring, including mandatory sample pressure testing
• Making an announcement to tighten the building regulations by a further 25% in 2010
• Research into the technical issues around a further 25% should be launched immediately
• Introducing the Energy Report, as detailed in the EU Directive, for new build homes in January 2006

EST Company Information
TransportEnergy, a division of the Energy Saving Trust, works on behalf of governments to improve the quality of our environment. The Energy Saving Trust works to promote the use of sustainable and renewable energy, encourage energy efficiency in industry and highlight ways to save energy within the home. We are also committed to reducing carbon dioxide (co2) emissions, one of the key contributors to climate change.

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