Zero and low carbon homes must also be socially and economically sustainable.

A ‘zero carbon’ label does not necessarily mean socially and economically sustainable construction, warned expert Dr David Strong on Tuesday at the Ecobuild 2008 conference, Earls Court in London.

Speaking on the first day of the sustainability conference, the Chief Executive of Inbuilt Consulting called for an urgent reality check and a change to “whole system thinking.”

“I am a strong supporter of zero and low carbon buildings. The drive towards zero carbon is very important – it has had a powerful effect in galvanising the UK housebuilding and property development community and in stimulating innovation.

“But there is much more to delivering exemplary built environments than zero carbon,” said the expert, who recently won the 2007 Sustainability Leadership Award and is one of the founders of the UK Green Building Council.

Commenting on recent prototype houses that meet the highest levels (Levels 5 and 6) of the Code for Sustainable Homes, he went on to warn that: “The single-minded scramble to design and build Level 6 homes gives out the message that this is the highest ambition and most worthy outcome we should aim for.

“However, if we end up with ‘zero carbon’ Code Level 6 homes that are uneconomic to maintain, are built on flood plains, overheat in summer, have poor acoustic performance, poor indoor air quality or other unintended consequences, then we have created a generation of homes that are unfit for people. We can’t call this sustainability. The so-called ‘best’ are in real danger of becoming the enemy of the good.”

Strong also questioned the reality of ‘zero carbon’ as a useful label for buildings, and warned that it could offer consumers a false promise: “A home is only ‘zero carbon’ in the sense that it complies with a theoretical carbon requirement. It’s how we use that home that really matters.

“We need whole system thinking. This means collaborative, multi-disciplinary, integrated team working like we’ve rarely seen before.”

Inbuilt Consulting is the UK’s first major consultancy specialising exclusively in sustainable buildings, communities and construction, launched in December 2007.