News
Concern over carbon factor change in new Part L rules
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The UK government has failed to fully explain why
a fundamental technical change to Part L 2010 of the Building Regulations has been made, according to CIBSE. A change to the carbon factors
in the recently released Approved Documents (ADs) for Part L 2010 will mean that, from October, some fuels will be judged to emit more carbon compared with the 2006 standard. In particular, electricity and waste heat have increased significantly in the 2010 revisions – prompting fears that this could have serious implications for certain technologies, such as air source heat pumps. But a spokeswoman for the
Department for Energy and Climate Change told the Journal that, because the Building Regulations take account of the ‘changing nature of the carbon emission factors in setting the performance minima, technologies that use electricity as a fuel are not penalised because of the changing nature of the emission factor for electricity’. She added that other issues also
affect the value of carbon factors, such as the different fuels used to generate electricity. For example,
Oases in the sky
New images of the Khan Shatyry entertainment centre in Kazakhstan have been released. Standing at 150m, the tower, due to be completed this summer, is set to become the tallest structure in Astana, the republic’s capital. It will include a tropical park that will step up in terraces to the highest part of the 100,000 sq m building, providing public spaces and green oases. Roof lights will illuminate wave pools, a river and waterfall. It will host events and house retail space, cafes and restaurants.
Construction starts moving in March
Construction growth has increased for the first time since February 2008, according to a survey. The CIPS/Markit Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) showed growth in March as purchasing managers revealed increases in new orders, and construction companies remained positive about the future. House-building showed the strongest activity in the subsectors, while civil engineering contracted. However, David Noble, CIPS
the new 2010 carbon factor reflects the increased use of coal following unexpected rises in gas prices. However, CIBSE’s technical
director Hywel Davies, was sceptical. He said: ‘I don’t understand how they can say that those technologies that use electricity as a fuel will not be penalised. If the factors don’t penalise things that use electricity, then why do you bother with the emissions factors at all?’ Davies said it may only
become clear once the National Calculation Methodology has been released and the data have
been modelled in SBEM, but whether this will be understood
in time for the October launch all depends on how quickly the government makes its revisions to SBEM available. (It had not been published as the Journal went to press.) ‘The whole problem depends
on what you want to know,’ added Davies. ‘Do you want a number now or for five years time? Or do you try and make a view for the life of an installation? When these things last 15 or 20 years, getting the right factors really does become a bit more of challenge.
See News Analysis, page 16
chief executive, said: ‘Dwindling head counts, as firms laid off staff at a quicker pace, coupled with weakened confidence about future business performance, suggests that the construction industry still has some concerns over the stability of the recovery.’ Meanwhile the Glenigan Index
showed a rise of 37 per cent in private and social housing starts, while civil engineering was down 44 per cent. Glenigan predicts that social housing, education and health projects are expected to dry up as the new government acts to curb the deficit, but it expects to see a continuing recovery in the retail sector. In the longer term, civil engineering projects should benefit from new renewable energy projects into the third quarter of 2010.
www.cibsejournal.com
June 2010 CIBSE Journal
7
Foster + Partners
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