Plumb Center has launched a new manifesto, setting out a series of policy recommendations which aim to create a more energy conscious society.

The manifesto includes plans designed to support consumers, the industry and the government to meet the combined goals of greater energy and water efficiency.

The manifesto was launched on 28 October at the House of Commons, and was hosted by Laura Sandys MP, who is Parliamentary Private Secretary to Greg Barker MP, Minister for Climate Change.

"It's a great honour to be here looking at and launching the manifesto," Sandys said. "It's absolutely crucial that we have leadership and foresight from the industry, setting standards and demanding a response from politicians. If politicians spent as much time talking about energy efficiency, energy waste and helping people reduce their consumption as they do aboutenergy bills, we would be in a better place."

Among the recommendations made in the 31 page manifesto are:

Tim Pollard, Plumb Center's head of sustainability, is one of the driving forces behind the manifesto. "As an industry we need to be doing everything we can to ensure people's bills are manageable, homes and businesses are efficient, and carbon emissions are kept to a minimum," he said. "In the UK we have the oldest and most inefficient building stock in Europe. These wasteful homes are using more energy than they need to and people are paying the price through rising energy and water bills.

"Plumb Center works with plumbing and heating installers across the UK to find the best ways to improve the efficiency of our homes, and solutions to the challenges they're facing. Our manifesto is designed to be a mixture of ‘blue skies’ policy thinking and more practical industry-led solutions, and we hope it will move the debate on and ultimately get more people to look at ways to make energy and water efficient improvements to their homes and businesses."

Pictured: Tim Pollard, Plumb Center's head of sustainability, and Laura Sandys MP, who is Parliamentary Private Secretary to Greg Barker MP, Minister for Climate Change.