Increasing green regulation could add up to 60 per cent to the construction costs of new buildings, according to a study by Miller Development. The Sunday Telegraph
European and UK legislation on planning regulations and building standards have already resulted in a 14% increase in build costs, a figure which could rise to more than 60%, if BRE Environmental Assessment Method standards of excellence are met.
Phil Miller, chief executive of Miller development, said: “There seem to be lots of authorities competing with each other to set higher targets without listening to the industry and finding out whether these targets are viable.
“European targets are now coming through in both planning and building regulations, but they are coming though in a very disorganised way.”
Miller based his calculations on a notional 50,000sq ft office building. They suggest that just meeting current targets for on-site power generation would add 6% to build costs, and achieving 27% CO savings would add an extra 8%.
The extra 14% would be needed to pay for technology such as ground-source heating, high performance glass and energy-efficient heating and cooling plants.
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