Are the Government in Northern Ireland doing enough to promote green Essay

Are the Government in Northern Ireland doing enough to promote green design and technology to home owner's carrying out domest - Essay Example The authorities that monitor the construction sector in Northern Ireland have published a series of rules referring to the standards applied on buildings, which are constructed or renovated using green design. These issues are analytically discussed below; emphasis is given on the avoidance of the government to provide specific incentives to homeowners for using green design technology. It is proved that the government of Northern Ireland has the willingness to promote the green design and the green building; however, its relevant initiatives often fail to meet the above target because of one of the following reasons: a) they are not completed successfully, or b) they are not made known to the people who are not aware that specific practices need to be introduced in domestic renovation works. Indeed, it has been proved that people in Northern Ireland are not appropriately informed on their country’s initiatives and rules in regard to the green design and the green building. Th e target on which the country’s government should focus is not just the increase of the volume of its legislative work – referring especially to green design and green building – but also on the improvement of its communication with the people. 1. Driving factors behind the government’s strategic position in relation to encouraging green design. The government of Northern Ireland has been actively involved in efforts for promoting sustainability and green design – being influenced rather from the relevant practices of the UK government. As for the characteristics of the government’s position towards the green design and the green building, these can be identified – among other activities and statements, as analyzed in the sections that follow – in the proposals of the members of the government for the update of the Building Regulations – so that ‘the use of renewable energy to become compulsory in all new builds fr om 2008’ (Mongabay 2006). The initiatives of the government of Northern Ireland for the promotion of green design have been emerged – among other reasons - because of the increase of global warming and the need for saving energy in households across the country. This need is highlighted in a report published in 2007; in the specific report it is noted that ‘Green Party Irish government ministers’ (BBC News, 2007) highlighted the need for the establishment of ‘an element of renewable energy such as solar power or biomass heating’ (BBC News, 2007) in homes across Ireland. The above proposal has been one of the various activities developed by the Irish government in regard to the promotion of green design and green technology; it must be noted here though that the relevant projects are often influenced by the British green design – which is, in any case, based on the rules of sustainability. The activities of the government of Northern Ire land in the particular sector, i.e. the promotion of green design and green technology, are presented below. As for the driving factors of these initiatives, these could be described as follows: a) the need for aligning the national policies with the similar policies of other countries worldwide; b) the need for reducing the energy consumed by households across the country; the green design and the green technology can provide a major part (about the 2/3) of the daily energy needs of a household –