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Laurence Aston, Director of Mechanical Engineering, Morgan Professional Services

David Clark, Partner, Max Fordham Consulting Engineers

Patrick Conaghan, Partner, Hoare Lea Consulting Engineers

David Hughes, Building Services Consultant, MTT Consulting Philip King, Director, Hilson Moran

Chani Leahong, Senior Associate,

Fulcrum Consulting

Stephen Lisk, President, The Society of Light and Lighting

Professor John Swaffield, CIBSE Past

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Ged Tyrrell, Managing Director,

Tyrrell Systems

Ant Wilson, Director, AECOM

Morwenna Wilson, Graduate Engineer, Arup Terry Wyatt, Consultant to Hoare Lea

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Cover: Steve Taylor

This isn’t the 1980s – green is good

N

ews that the construction industry is picking up economically is very welcome. But the optimism is likely to be short lived as, by the time you read

this, the UK government will have announced more details of its plans to cut public expenditure – and school and hospital building programmes undoubtedly will be hit (see our news pages). Ministers’ plans to slash £6bn of spending will be seen by many in the industry as a necessary evil to cut the national debt. But it would be foolhardy to take an axe to existing programmes under the Building Schools for the Future scheme, for example. The previous government’s pledge to improve school premises across the nation may not be sustainable in the current climate but severing a crucial lifeline to many in the industry – from consultants to contractors to manufacturers – could kill off any green shoots that are beginning to emerge. Gordon Brown, both as Chancellor and

Energy and Climate Change Secretary Chris Huhne, a Liberal Democrat, will propel the low carbon and energy efficiency agendas forward in the face of overwhelming pressures to cut spending. This is where the new government also needs to turn over a new leaf – in ensuring that the green thinking and policymaking pursued by different departments are joined up so that they produce a coherent and effective package of measures. This is where the case for protecting hospital

Progressive government

would mean not allowing public sector building and refurbishment to fizzle out

ABC audited circulation: 19,728 January to December 2009

then Prime Minister, had an iron grip on the nation’s purse strings. So it would be a testament to this coalition government’s claims to greater inclusiveness if health and education ministers stood up to the Treasury and demanded protection at least for existing capital expenditure programmes. The popular argument in government and the media is that we can only afford to ‘ring-fence’ frontline medical and teaching services. But the facilities in which these professionals operate are also for the benefit of patients and pupils, and good and appropriate environments are crucial to their well-being. Another test of the new government is whether

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and school capital budgets can be reinforced. The importance of energy efficient and low carbon public buildings to meeting the government’s 2050 target for an 80 per cent emissions cut cannot be overstated. Prime Minister Cameron’s announcement that all government departments must cut emissions by 10 per cent is

a step forward, but only a small one. A progressive green government would recognise that sustainable construction, refurbishment and retrofitting in the public sector cannot be allowed to fizzle out. This means continuing with the school and hospital improvement and building programmes. And it also means requiring public sector construction procurement to meet sustainability requirements. So let us batten down the hatches as we prepare

for the bonfire of the public sector contracts. But let’s also keep up the pressure on ministers and MPs from both sides of the coalition to recognise that, in this post-Thatcherite world, green is good, and this means green investment too.

Bob Cervi, Editor

bcervi@cibsejournal.com

June 2010 CIBSE Journal

5

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