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News in Brief

Plea for UCAS credit

The government should make the Competent Persons Scheme UCAS accredited, according to CIBSE. A single accreditation provider would ensure appropriate and consistent checking, both in initial application and ongoing monitoring, said the institution in its response to a consultation on the scheme, which closed recently.

Two year wind farm wait

It takes more than two years, on average, to get consent to build wind farms in the UK, making it the eighth best place in Europe to gain planning permission. Wind Barriers, a report co-ordinated by the European Wind Energy Association, found it took 26 months to gain planning permission in the UK, compared to eight months in Finland (first) and 53 in Portugal (last).

‘Passive’ performance

AECOM has been appointed as the BREEAM assessor for a new development in the TEDA Modern Service District of the Tianjin city in north-eastern China – the first BREEAM to be registered with BRE. The design will incorporate a number of renewables and low carbon solutions, including passive design features, a high performance building envelope, light tubes and ground source heat pumps.

Asda-Langdon deal

Multidisciplinary consultant Davis Langdon has been appointed to Asda’s project management and employers agent framework for new stores and extensions over the next three years. The first project under the framework is a new eco-store being constructed in Sheffield.

New office Down Under

Multidisciplinary consultancy, hurleypalmerflatt, has opened a new office in Sydney, Australia. The operation will focus on building projects in sectors such as commercial offices, financial services, technology and healthcare.

Award for indoor garden

The Cityscape Awards – Real Estate 2010 have now been announced, with King Abdullah International Gardens (KAIG) winning the Best Sustainable Development category. The awards target developments in the Middle East and north Africa. The KAIG design includes a 10-hectare building which will house the world’s largest indoor garden. It will be set within a 160-hectare site in the arid desert of the Saudi central region. For the full list of winners visit www.cityscapeabudhabi.com

Passivhaus certification grows

Three buildings have received Passivhaus status in the UK. WARM: Low Energy Building

Practice, an independent consultancy and registered Passivhaus certifier, has approved a £1.4m centre for disability studies in Essex, a £141,000 detached house in West Yorkshire, and a private detached house in Camden. The centre for disability was

built using an externally insulated

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CIBSE Journal June 2010

masonry frame, using AECB Gold standard detailing, and now has projected annual heating bills of £300 (for a 550 sq m building). The house in Camden is a timber

frame [circa 120 sq m], two-bedroom home with predicted annual heating bills of well below £100. This is achieved by 380mm of insulation, negative psi values throughout (no cold bridging), triple glazing, Passivhaus sliding windows,

draught free construction, and 92 per cent efficient heat recovery ventilation consuming only 15 Watts of power in extract and supply. The Denby Dale Passivhaus is a

three-bed detached home. It is the first cavity wall Passivhaus in the UK and has projected heating costs of well below £100 a year. The Green Building Store’s Ecopassiv windows, heat recovery ventilation and air tightness products were used.

www.cibsejournal.com

School and hospital cuts could spell ‘disaster’ for the industry

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A reduction in spending on school projects and the health

sector would be a disaster for the building services industry, according to CIBSE. Media reports suggest that the

new Conservative-Liberal coalition will freeze spending on all schools projects that have not yet reached preferred bidder status, while it has also postponed the appointment of contractors to the Procure 21+ health framework, which is being used to deliver community hospitals, primary care centres and other units. As the Journal went to press,

the Chancellor, George Osborne, announced that he would reveal how the government would make its promised £6bn worth of cuts, and said an emergency Budget would be held on 22 June.

‘I know many people were laid

off in design when the Learning and Skills Council messed up and they put everything on hold, yet this was small compared to the school and health programmes.’ But he added: ‘Giving a greater

Andy Ford... concern over spending.

Andy Ford, CIBSE’s president-

elect, believes a slowdown in spending could have drastic implications for the industry – even if a full spending review is sensible, given the country’s circumstances. He told the Journal: ‘I shrink from

considering the impact such a step would have on jobs in this already damaged construction sector.

emphasis to building refurbishment would reduce running costs and give more people work. It would also reduce our carbon impact as a society more quickly, and match the austere mood of the day.’ He said that more focus should be

given to good-quality waste-to-energy combined heat and power schemes for existing school and hospital buildings. ‘Using these energy/ waste centres in the community for education could create a much wider understanding of, and involvement in, our energy supply and waste disposal processes.’ Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64