The UK Green Building Council today welcomed the Government's commitment to a Green Investment Bank. UK-GBC added that the new bank could provide an ideal vehicle for implementing Pay as You Save finance to allow householders to make energy efficiency improvements to their homes.
Paul King, Chief Executive of the UK Green Building Council said: "The Green Investment Bank could lead to a low carbon revolution. However energy efficiency must not be a poor relation to high-profile issues like offshore wind and high-speed rail. Refurbishment of our homes and buildings offers the greatest cost-effective carbon savings, as well as alleviating fuel poverty and creating jobs. The bottom line is the less energy we consume, the less we need to produce or import from elsewhere.
"We welcome the commitment to a Green Investment Bank, but it's crucial that £2 bln. is just the start. The Bank must leverage much higher sums from the private sector. Tens if not hundreds of billions of pounds are needed to invest in our leaky homes and buildings alone.
"Government has committed in principle to 'Pay As You Save' to enable householders to access packages of home refurbishment. The Green Investment Bank would seem to be an ideal vehicle to leverage private sector investment in this scheme, for a secure return on that investment."
Source: UKGBC
