News
Departments ‘pioneer’
the low carbon way
n
The UK government has claimed a world first,
publishing plans that set out how every major department should address climate change. The Carbon Reduction Delivery
and Adaptation Plans detail each department’s commitment to minimise the damage of climate change, by reducing emissions and by preparing for inevitable change in the UK climate. The plans include green infrastructure in urban areas; flood risk; and adapting skills in areas such as engineering, planning and architecture, as well as in the development of new products and services.
A first for BREEAM NL
The first BREEAM NL certificate ratings have been awarded to projects in the Netherlands. Schiphol Real Estate’s TransPort office building (pictured) and a new logistics park by developer WDP in Tilburg are the first to receive the standard. The ratings, issued by the Dutch Green Building Council under licence from BRE Global, are the first to be issued by a scheme operator outside the UK.
The Intergovernmental Panel
on Climate Change highlights that countries will experience further warming over at least the next 30-40 years. In the UK we are likely to see warmer, wetter winters and hotter drier summers with increased risk of coastal erosion and severe weather. Environment Secretary
Hilary Benn said: ‘These plans demonstrate how each individual department will work to reduce emissions and adapt their own estates, operations and policies.’ Meanwhile, housing minister
John Healey has announced £263m of additional funding for
new affordable homes and to kick-start stalled developments, and confirmed that three new publicly owned sites are to be made available for housebuilding under the Public Land Initiative. Eight companies and their collaborative partners have been given grants by the Department of Energy and Climate Change to explore smart technology. The grants are part of the UK’s plan to move to smarter energy supplies, including smart meters in every home, a smart grid and entire smart cities. The projects are spread across a range of various technologies.
Fire safety warning
A fire expert is reminding industry of the importance of having complete fire safety strategies in place following the death of two firefighters in a Southampton blaze. The two men were killed tackling
the fire in a high rise block of flats at Shirley Towers. The tragedy echoes that at Lakanal House in south London last July. Peter Stephenson, associate
director of Kingfell Consulting, said: ‘This and other recent tragic fire incidents will remind everyone working within the built environment of the importance of ensuring a complete fire safety strategy for a building, from its initial inception, through to design, construction, occupation and eventually demolition. ‘We are all aware that a fire
can occur at any time and the fire safety systems incorporated into a building design need to be adequately maintained and assessed to ensure their correct operation in an emergency scenario to adequately protect the occupants and emergency responders.’ An investigation into the blaze
is continuing.
www.cibsejournal.com
May 2010 CIBSE Journal
9
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