Surveyors plan to make homes in Wales green.

CALLS to make South Wales' homes greener are at the centre ofanewclimate changeaction plan.

From today, Wales' Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) has pledged to work with property experts to make the nation's 1.3 million houses more energy efficient. The group wants to seeWales move towards a low carbon housing market - and will work with the AssemblyGovernment to help achieve its zero-carbon buildings aspiration by 2011.

The professional body plans to collaborate with theWelsh AssemblyGovernment through its Zero/Low Carbon Hub Existing Homes Alliance - a group containing key members of the building industry, housing and voluntary sectors in Wales carbon emissions reduction targets - and to exert an influence through its membership of theWales Planning Forum.

As part of Rics' concrete Climate Change Action Plan, unveiled nationally today, the institution will consult with its 100,000 members and commit to a research programme that will gather intelligence on how governments and communities act to bring about change. In addition, it will help to establish crucial planning priorities as Wales tries to introduce its minimum standards of sustainability in all submitted building applications.

Cathy McLean, director of RicsWales, said: "Rics will work with is members, the Welsh Assembly and organisations throughoutWales in moving closer to a workable solution to a property market that fully addresses climate change."