Those promoting sustainability have to get better at putting the case that investing in green construction can boost growth
Green party leader Natalie Bennett became an unlooked for Twitter sensation this week following her car crash interview with LBC Radio鈥檚 Nick Ferrari over her party鈥檚 housing policy. There鈥檚 no doubt that, on the eve of the Ecobuild conference, and two months before the general election, both sustainability and the built environment are very much in the news.
Next week鈥檚 conference will provide perhaps the last detailed forum in which to debate the sustainability of the UK鈥檚 construction and built environment sector before this year鈥檚 poll. It also provides a viewpoint from which to review where we鈥檝e come in the last five austerity-bedevilled years.
It has become a commonplace to rate Cameron鈥檚 pledge of making his government the 鈥済reenest ever鈥� next to the coalition鈥檚 actual track record on sustainability - a track record that鈥檚 patchy at best. While it is hard to find anyone who believes the coalition has been the greenest ever, the last five years have seen genuine achievements on sustainability, such as the proposed introduction of minimum energy performance standards in the commercial and residential sector. But - as 星空传媒 has documented tirelessly - there has been more than a healthy dollop of U-turns (FITs), policy failures (Green Deal) and unhelp