22 October 2006
The government is facing legal action from the European Commission for failing to implement legislation to save energy and combat global warming.
If the rules for insulating homes and offices aren't brought up to scratch, ministers could end up being fined in court for breaking the law.
About 40% of the greenhouse gas emissions which are disrupting the climate come from buildings. Heat leaks out of poorly insulated roofs, walls and windows, causing energy to be wasted.
To try and improve energy efficiency standards for buildings, the European Commission introduced the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (pdf) in 1992. Member states were meant to have implemented the directive by 4 January 2006.
But the Commission has now sent nine countries, including the UK, a legal opinion accusing them of breaching the directive. This is, the Commission says, "the last step before a formal complaint to the Court of Justice is lodged".
Energy and environmental campaigners say the Scottish Executive is partly to blame for failing to do enough to conserve energy in buildings. "This warning from the Commission confirms that the Executive has been far too slow in improving energy standards," said Chas Booth, Parliamentary Officer for the Association for the Conservation of Energy.
"The new method they've proposed to measure energy efficiency simply won't work. To avoid being dragged before the European Court, ministers must bring forward proper energy performance certificates, and abandon their discredited DIY auditing method."
The Sunday Herald reported in July 2005 that the measures being proposed by the Scottish Executive to boost energy efficiency in buildings risked falling foul of European law. One of the plans under consideration enabled householders to fill in their own energy performance certificates.
"Proper implementation of this directive would go a long way to meeting our climate
change targets," said Stuart Hay, head of policy at Friends of the Earth Scotland.
"This formal warning from the Commission shows that the Scottish Building Standards Agency has been complacent in its approach to this vital law. They must now start to take climate change and fuel poverty seriously, and meet the European standards."
The tool developed for the Scottish Building Standards Agency to measure the energy performance of buildings has been criticised by experts as inaccurate and unsuitable. They are urging the use of existing National Home Energy Rating instead.
But the Executive defended its record, saying that there were "no proposals" to bring DIY home energy auditing into effect. It is planning to publish the first "Scottish Energy Efficiency and Microgeneration Strategy and Action Plan" later this year.
"We have recently consulted on proposals to raise energy efficiency requirements for new buildings in May 2007, including the best standard of thermal insulation in the UK," said an Executive spokeswoman.
"This could not be started until the fundamental reform of the building standards system was completed last year. The five year period since the previous energy improvement will meet the EU directive requirement to review every five years."
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