The consultation document "Building a Greener Future: Towards Zero Carbon Development" has been launched by Communities Secretary Ruth Kelly .

• From 2008 all new homes will have a mandatory rating under a new Code for Sustainable Homes.
• A Planning Policy Statement on climate change will require planning strategies to optimise carbon performance and be resilient to climate change.
• A framework for progressively tightening building regulations up to 2016 to increase the energy efficiency and reduce the carbon footprint of new homes will be put in place.

The announcement defines a "Low carbon development" as one that achieves a reduction in carbon emissions of 50 per cent or more from energy use on site, on an annual basis.

A "zero carbon home" is one with ‘zero net emissions of Carbon Dioxide (CO²) from all energy use in the home’. This could be at the level of the individual home or "site-wide strategies".

The Code for Sustainable Homes is based on the BRE's EcoHomes system, which BRE will maintain during the transition to the Code.

As 70% of all homes that will exist in 2050 have already been built, the existing housing stock also comes under the spotlight, with the Energy Efficiency of Dwellings - Initial Analysis forming the basis for developing proposals to improve the existing housing stock. It is essential to consider the existing stock if long-term targets for carbon reductions are to be met.

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List of documents released