Memorandum submitted by Save our Parsonages
This letter constitutes our submission to your
committee in respect of the steps that Save Our Parsonages considers
should be taken in relation to the existing housing stock and
its contribution to climate change.
There is a large trade in the supply of replacement
materials for fittings, for example replacement doors and windows.
These materials tend to be considerably less environmentally friendly
than traditional ones. For example, plastic is now in almost routine
use for replacement doors, windows, gutters, soffitts and downpipes.
There are many problems here. Firstly, these materials are rarely
appropriate in either design or materials for the fittings they
replace, and thus the aesthetics of the built environment markedly
deteriorates. Secondly, in our observation homeowners are often
persuaded that replacement materials are needed where in fact
routine maintenance of existing materials is perfectly adequate.
The mere act of replacement therefore wastes materials and energy.
Thirdly, these materials are much more environmentally unfriendly
than those they replace:
1. They are manufactured from finite raw
materials such as oil.
2. They are inefficient in their consumption
of those materials.
3. Excessive energy is consumed in the process
of manufacture.
4. They are unsustainable in that they have
a much shorter life than traditional materials such as wood and
cast iron.
5. They are massively environmentally unfriendly
in that they do not biodegrade.
6. They cannot be repaired like traditional
materials but have to be entirely removed and dumped; in short,
they are a classic product of the "throwaway" culture
of the late twentieth century when we should be moving in another
direction.
7. As if that were not enough, they are toxic
as they release harmful chemicals into the atmosphere as they
deteriorate.
It has been calculated that plastics last only
about a quarter of the timespan of cast iron and a fraction of
the timespan of good hardwood. While they are presently about
half the cost to the consumer of cast iron, this economy is entirely
false in terms of their duration and durability.
Government policy seems to us to be astonishingly
and bafflingly ambivalent on these vital issues. First, we believe
that the government should be actively discouraging the use of
plastics and other unsustainable materials for building purposes
as a matter of urgency. To this end, we consider the provision
of information for households about these facts is vital. This
would also make things more difficult for "rogue" traders.
If that fails to persuade people, the government must next legislate
to outlaw these unfriendly materials and the contribution they
are making to climate change.
Thirdly, we consider that the encouragement
of the use of greener and more natural materials should form an
important part of the purpose of the Home Information Pack and
should be a vital component of the energy efficiency rating of
a house. There is a danger of unjust treatment of householders
who use sustainable materials which must be avoided—it creates
ill-feeling and defeats the government's objectives. These householders
should be actively encouraged, not penalised for not having "updated"
their homes with newer but shoddier materials.
Note: the mission of Save Our Parsonages
(SOP) is to encourage the Church to retain, use and value its
historic rectories and vicarages and recognise them as vital assets
fundamental to its work. We have strong links with other bodies
concerned with conservation and heritage, and in the course of
our work we encourage the use of traditional and environmentally
friendly materials.
| 
