| From guardian.co.uk : The government should seek to provide greater environmental benefits, says Rynd Smith. The tougher green design and planning standards announced by the government last week for eco-towns are laudable, but far from radical. They can be achieved without too much trouble, and few of them represent real cutting-edge thinking on sustainability. Perhaps most underwhelming is that the standards apply only to eco-towns: many of the targets proposed by the government last week should be the aim for all new housing development.
The government wants the average house in an eco-town to be within a 10-minute walk of frequent public transport and neighbourhood services. It wants one worker in every home to be able to get to their job by walking, cycling or catching public transport. It wants every eco-town building - whether commercial, public or residential - to achieve a zero carbon rating. Those targets are already achievable for nearly all of the 3m new homes the government wants built by 2020. If we are to achieve a sustainable future, targets need to be mandatory across the board..... Full Article: Source
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