Secretary of State for Business Innovation and Skills, Lord Mandelson said "The Construction Industry is central to the UK meeting our stretching carbon targets and I welcome the findings from the construction IGT which clearly show they are up to this challenge. As we have seen as part of our New Industry, New Jobs programme, there are huge business opportunities for growth and green jobs in the low carbon economy which will benefit construction.”

The Low Carbon Transition Plan is a Plan for Construction.

The Innovation & Growth Team is undertaking a strategic review of the construction industry’s readiness to deliver on the low carbon agenda, and develop a route map for the transition to the very different world that would follow a 29% cut in emissions by 2022, and an 80% cut by 2050.

Key messages from the Emerging Findings

The Low Carbon Transition Plan sets out how the UK will achieve the targets from the Climate Change Act to cut CO2 emissions. Almost every proposition in it represents a market for construction if the barriers can be overcome, so it is virtually a business plan for the Construction Industry over the next 20 years.
We need to develop new buildings that enable their owners and occupiers to lead more energy efficient lives without loss of comfort. We need to extend the same thinking to the 28 million existing buildings in the UK, and make them as good as they can be too; and we need to build the infrastructure that will support the production of “clean” energy and the operation of sustainable transport systems
This is a huge opportunity; a programme measured in hundreds of billions of pounds which can help reshape the industry to become a more integrated, collaborative and progressive industry which attracts the brightest people.
Transitions to low carbon and high performance should be seen as part and parcel of the same challenge. To take advantage of this the Construction Industry needs to develop a shared sense of purpose and a clear vision of the future so it can play a leadership role in the move to low carbon.

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Stuart