Doug King, a visiting professor of building engineering physics at the University of Bath and author of the new report, said that it had become fashionable for people to install renewable energy at home but warned against it. "Eco-bling describes unnecessary renewable energy visibly attached to the outside of poorly-designed buildings - it's a zero-sum approach," he said. "If you build something that is just as energy-hungry as every other building and then put a few wind turbines and solar cells on the outside that addresses a few per cent of that building's energy consumption, you've not achieved anything.

In new buildings, energy efficiency does not need to come at an additional cost, especially if it is introduced at the planning stage. Last minute eco-changes or later eco-additions tend to be ineffective, costly and often not very aesthetic. 'Eco bling' has had its day.

The time for knee jerk green tokenism and Eco-Bling are almost behind us as we begin to see clients taking a more mature approach to sustainability in the Built Environment.