Sustainable housing: what will happen to the green agenda?

As 2010 drew to a close, the government cemented it's commitment to the zero carbon agenda , with Grant Shapps announcing plans to develop a community energy fund as part of the effort to meet the zero offset for homes built after 2016. More recently, Shapps outlined the community infrastructure levy aimed at helping local authorities achieve reductions in carbon emissions locally. However he came under fire for scrapping the Homes and Communities Agency's Core Standards for new buildings, removing the basic energy efficiency standards laid out by the last government . As part of this drive for eco-friendliness Zero Carbon Hub's benchmark report recommended building homes with on site renewable energy . Meanwhile, housing association Peabody has set up a £23 million programme to fit solar panels to its housing stock and is aiming to reduce emissions by 60% of their 1990 levels by 2025. However, amidst these gallant efforts to improve the UK's carbon footprint, campaigners have warned that the government's cap on the amount claimed per home for green deal improvements will limit its effectiveness. If you would like to hear from the experts on whether the plan for zero carbon by 2016 is still realistic, how your housing association will need to adapt or any other green related housing issues, join our live Q&A Monday, 17 January, 12 pm - 3pm. Our Panel: (with more to be confirmed) Neil Jefferson is chief executive of the Zero Carbon Hub , the private-public organisation charged with monitoring and facilitating delivery of low and zero carbon homes. It is directly responsible to the 2016 Taskforce, which is co-chaired by the housing minister. Neil has been at the Zero Carbon Hub since its launch in 2008 and prior to this was managing director of the National Centre for Excellence in Housing . Nic Wedlake leads on environmental sustainability for Peabody and is responsible for the development and delivery of environmental sustainability strategy. Nic's focus is on improving the environmental performance of Peabody's existing homes. He is chair of the London Environment Group (made up of London housing associations) and a member of the Energy Efficiency Partnership for Homes Social Housing Group . Richard Lupo is sustainability consultant at Sustainable Homes . Richard has taken a lifelong interest in sustainability issues and is a Code for Sustainable Homes assessor and a trainer of Code Assessors. He has a working understanding of sustainability issues gained from study for an MSc in Environmental Engineering at Imperial College London and from hands on research. Richard has recently completed a 2 year research project on recycling of construction and demolition waste within the UK. John Alker and Jo Wheeler will be representing the UK Green Building Council (UK-GBC). John is director of policy & communications, leading on policy, government and stakeholder relations, campaigns and PR. Jo is senior policy advisor and has a background in urban development and planning. UK-GBC is a charity and works collaboratively to develop both industry practice and government policy in order to radically improve the sustainability of the built environment. This content is brought to you by Guardian Professional. For more like this join the housing network