UK construction industry to get boost of up to £150 million for enhanced energy efficiency

In a bid to boost the UK construction industry, the government has pledged to invest up to an impressive 150 million pounds into this sector over the next five years.

According to the government's statement, £60 million is being invested through the Technology Strategy Board in designing and developing more energy efficient buildings. The projects are expected to leverage in an additional £60 million of industry investment and £30 million extra funding from across government and other agencies.

Over the last five years £83 million has already been invested in low carbon buildings, saving money for home owners and businesses through the Low Impact Buildings Innovation Platform. This has been supported by industry investment of £34 million and the future direct economic benefits of this investment are expected to be more than £1.5 billion and three quarters of the organisations supported are SMEs with fewer than 250 staff.

Projects have ranged from small businesses like The Facility, developing new energy efficient designs and systems to refit Victorian homes, to multi-national companies like Skanska, developing semi-autonomous equipment such as lift motors and central heating pumps that can tell operators when they need maintenance.

Business Secretary Vince Cable said: "The UK's new and existing buildings must adjust to a low carbon economy. Investing in energy efficient construction projects is important to help industry and government achieve our aims of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 50 per cent by 2025. I therefore warmly welcome the Technology Strategy Board's investment of £60 million in energy efficient technology alongside the private sector.

"The construction industry contributes almost £90 billion to the UK economy and supports around 3 million jobs. We are well placed to take advantage of new and emerging energy efficient technologies, commercialise them and then export them across the world."