It鈥檚 encouraging to see the government鈥檚 commitment to reducing the carbon footprint of the built environment (3 August, page 17). The new construction minister, Stephen Timms is clearly championing the issue of sustainability.

Gazeley believes that to deliver carbon savings across the built environment, all parties must share a common goal 鈥� tackling climate change 鈥� and together make a serious commitment to CO2 reduction.

The draft government Strategy for Sustainable Construction is a good start and will engage the industry in this debate. However, more must be done to demonstrate the business benefits of reducing carbon footprints.

Environment-friendly development doesn鈥檛 have to negatively affect a company鈥檚 bottom line. In the long-term, environmental technologies can deliver significant cost savings for companies.

If more companies come forward to shout about the advantages of going green, Stephen Timms鈥� goal to achieve BREEAM鈥檚 鈥渆xcellent鈥� rating for one-fifth of schemes over 拢1m by 2008 is well within our reach.

Jonathan Fenton-Jones, global director of sustainability and procurement, Gazeley

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