UK needs 'green' engineers

Peter Fouquet urged the government to act in support of green technology through legislation or incentives for builders to use small scale renewables. He drew attention to European examples where building regulations specify a percentage of energy in new houses must come from solar power, heat pumps or other renewable energy sources.

‘Feed-in tariffs’, which pay people for the electricity they create, will come into effect in April but Mr Fouquet said the UK has “no real encouragement” for small-scale renewable technology and the sector was struggling.

“People do not like to invest so much in housing technology but more in size and how their house is looking,” he said.

There were many ways to combat the amount of pollution houses create, he added, from a building’s construction and insulation to how it is heated and household appliances.

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