News
Environmental
guidance report
Sector must aim for best
published
possible sustainability
Guidance has been published
to help professionals in the
construction and property industry
standards, warns expert
reduce their environmental impact.
The UK Green Building Council’s
(UK-GBC) report, Biodiversity and
the Built Environment, contains n
Building services engineers do think that we’ve got to recognise
need to aim for the best the wake-up call and start making
guidance and recommendations possible environmental standards sure that everybody is aligned to
about how the built environment to help the world meet increasingly make change happen.”
can be beneficial to habitats and tough targets on cutting green- Targets are essential in making
wildlife. house gases, a renowned academic significant progress, she added.
It also details recommendations has told the Journal. “We very much set the targets
to improve the main sustainability Professor Julia King, vice- within the context of ‘this can be
tools, including BREEAM, Code for chancellor of Aston University done’. There’s a lot of analysis to
Sustainable Homes and CEEQUAL, and a member of the Committee demonstrate that it can be done,
to better incorporate assessment on Climate Change, whose and that it can be done affordably or
of biodiversity, as well as containing recommendations have been at a relatively small cost in terms of
recommendations for the industry, adopted by the UK government, the impact on GDP.”
and local and central government said current targets for cutting But the targets could become
to help improve the consistency gases may need to be raised if new tougher still, should scientific
of biodiversity measurement and scientific evidence emerged. evidence worsen [the prospects for
reporting, in order to set meaningful “My personal view is that the Julia King: challenges will get tougher climate change] significantly, she
targets. challenges [of climate change] will said.
UK-GBC’s Biodiversity Task get tougher as time passes, so we carbon emissions targets in order to “Emissions in the last five
Group has also launched an online should aim for the best now – for leave behind a habitable world in years have grown faster than
‘biodiversity portal’, through example, BREEAM Excellent ratings 50 to 100 years’ time, she added. earlier predictions suggested that
www.ukgbc.org, which will be for buildings – rather than accepting The UK’s Chief Scientist John they would. I think changes have
updated regularly. lesser environmental standards,” Beddington recently predicted that been happening faster than the
said King, who will be a keynote by 2030 there will be major food, predictions were suggesting they
speaker at this month’s CIBSE water and fuel shortages, creating would. So, clearly, we need to get
College building
national conference, where she will political instability, migration and a move on in terms of reducing
projects suspended
discuss the committee’s published other complex political problems emissions,” she said.
findings. ultimately caused by climate For details on the CIBSE conference
Planned building projects in The building services industry change. and to book a place, go to
colleges across England have been faces a moral pressure to meet In this context, King said: “I really www.cibse.org/nationalconference
suspended by the government
because of a lack of funding.
Around 79 colleges had been
Technician award for
given the first stage of approval
CIBSE member
in principle by the Learning
and Skills Council (LSC), which Student member Mark Long
oversees funding for the building was presented with the CIBSE-
programme. But the government sponsored Technician Engineer of
halted the programme, admitting the Year award at the SummitSkills
that it could not afford the £2.7bn National Training Awards 2009.
needed for the projects to proceed. In all, there were 11 categories in
The sum is in addition to £3bn this year’s awards, held to celebrate
earmarked for 65 colleges that have the best of apprentices and
already submitted proposals. engineers across the UK. A record
The LSC said that it would be number of entries was received,
able to give the go-ahead to eight according to organisers.
schemes that were deferred from
December 2008.
First BREEAM Outstanding rating
The government said current The 35,500 sq m G.Park Blue Planet logistics centre in Chatterley Valley,
spending, totalling £2.3bn for Staffordshire, UK, is the first building to achieve Outstanding BREEAM
funding 250 projects across the status, according to awarding body BRE. It is projected to save occupiers
country, would be honoured. up to £300,000 a year in running costs. The building has scored
Ministers blamed the debacle on “exemplary” credits in four areas of BREEAM and achieved an exceptional
LSC mismanagement. LSC chief standard of sustainability as a carbon-positive development. The new
executive Mark Haysom resigned BREEAM “outstanding” rating was introduced in August 2008. A score of
prior to a review by Sir Andrew 85 per cent must be obtained to achieve Outstanding, compared with
Foster into the LSC’s handling of the 70 per cent for an Excellent rating.
situation.
6 CIBSE Journal April 2009 www.cibsejournal.com
CIBSEapr09 pp06-07 news.indd 6 2/4/09 14:52:32
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