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News in Brief

University cuts

The Association of University Directors of Estates said institutions are planning for the worst following the UK government’s decision to cut capital grants by more than £500m. Overall capital funding for 2010-11 has been cut from £938m to £404m – a 14.9 per cent reduction after £250m was brought forward from 2010-11 into 2008-09 and 2009-10.

Home starts rise

The value of residential build projects starting on site during the three months to March 2010 in the private and social housing sectors was 37 per cent higher than the same period a year ago, according to the latest Glenigan Index. The value of non- residential construction project starts was only two per cent lower than the same period a year ago.

Millions more for homes

An extra £24m of government funding has been made available to build 600 new affordable homes in the east of England, as well as nearly £5m under round two of the Kickstart scheme to get stalled developments back on track. This brings the government’s financial support to £300m since June last year.

Beatty wins Hartlepool BSF

Infrastructure group Balfour Beatty has been awarded the initial £95m Hartlepool Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme by Hartlepool Borough Council. The contract involves the rebuilding and replacement of six schools over the next five years. Construction of the initial sample school, Dyke House Sports and Technology College, will begin this summer.

TB rises in poor housing

The charity ARCHIVE (Architecture for Health in Vulnerable Environments) is urging architects to work with it and Brent NHS to help tackle rising cases of TB. Occupancy density, room volume and air change rates have all been found to be directly linked to the number of new TB infections.

New homes are failing to get higher EPC ratings...

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Around 10 per cent of new dwellings and home

extensions are not achieving the best ratings for energy efficiency, according to government figures. A total of 743 homes with some

element of new construction since April 2008 have gained a top-level A rating on their energy performance certificate (EPC), while about 270,000 have either a B or C rating, according to government. The remainder – around 30,000 – fall into the lower D, E, F and G categories. The figures were revealed

last month by junior housing minister Ian Austin, in answer to a parliamentary question. However, a spokeswoman for the Department for Communities and

say what percentage of the total is represented by such projects. Hywel Davies, CIBSE technical

director, said the fact that the figures do not differentiate between new-build and conversions/ extensions posed questions over the effectiveness of enforcement of EPC ratings. ‘To a certain extent we are

Local Government stressed that the total figure of 300,000 dwellings includes older houses that have been improved or extended, with the EPC relating to the house as a whole – so a house’s overall rating may be below band C even if the new construction is of the highest quality. At present it is not possible to

swimming in treacle if we are not able to break these figures down properly – as they are, putting new builds and improvements in the same basket, they are fairly meaningless,’ he said. Among existing dwellings that

have been EPC-tested because they were either being sold or rented, less than 35 per cent fell into band C or above.

... as certificates still need improving

A lack of appetite for energy efficiency in the domestic market has been identified as a major barrier to adding value to sustainable homes. The value attached to energy-

efficient homes is linked to demand and there is currently little demand in the market place for energy- efficient housing, according to a new report from the Royal Institute of

Chartered Surveyors (RICS). This is largely due to a lack of information, driving such a demand from buyers. The RICS report concludes that

the quality and relevance of energy performance certificates (EPCs) needs to be improved to make them understandable and relevant to consumers. It also says that the market generally needs better skills and

guidance to improve the quality of EPCs, as well as recommending that information about EPCs be made more widely available to the public.

The report, Energy Efficiency and

Value Project, was commissioned by the Department for Communities and Local Government and initiated as part of the government’s Heat and Energy Savings Strategy.

www.rics.org

Dublin Airport’s terminal 2 gets ready to fly

Terminal 2, the flagship project of the €2bn redevelopment of Dublin Airport, is expected to open in November 2010. The new €600m terminal is regarded as one of Ireland’s most prestigious construction projects to date, and will enable the airport to handle an extra 15m passengers a year. Mercury Engineering carried out the complete electrical, mechanical, IT and sprinkler installation.

6

CIBSE Journal May 2010

www.cibsejournal.com

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