News News in brief


English contractors win big Companies in the construction industry in England have been awarded the lion’s share of contracts for the London 2012 Olympic Games, a parliamentary question has revealed. England won £5bn worth of contracts, but only £22m worth were awarded to Scottish companies, while Northern Ireland won £17m and Wales just £573,000. Companies outside the UK were awarded £12m. www.london-2012.co.uk/ODA


Wales sets CO2 target Wales is using its devolved powers to introduce its own Building Regulations to cut carbon emissions from buildings by 55% compared with 2006 levels. The Assembly Government expects to consult on detailed proposals during 2012 for implementation in 2013. www.wales.gov.uk


Retrofit for Welsh homes Six terraced homes in Wales could see their carbon emissions and heating bills halved as part of a new retrofitting project. The Wales Eco Terrace Project has installed triple-glazing, insulation, roof-mounted solar thermal collectors and A-rated condensing boilers to achieve BREEAM EcoHomes Excellent standard. When occupied, the homes’ performance will be monitored.


NHS procurement scheme Six companies have been chosen to carry out construction and refurbishment works at NHS hospitals, under the new Procure 21+ framework. The six are: Balfour Beatty Group; Healthcare Partnership Solutions; Integrated Health Projects; Interserve Project Services; Willmott Dixon Holdings; and Kier Regional.


Product recall by Mitsubishi Mitsubishi Electric UK has issued a product safety recall after a power receiver component in one W85 (medium-sized) unit failed under pressure, seriously damaging the outdoor unit. www.mitsubishielectric.co.uk/ response-team


BREEAM urged to publish building performance data


incorporation and the setting of minimum standards. One area that demands more


attention, said the UKGBC, is the responsible sourcing of materials and their embodied carbon. Greater transparency of the data and lifecycle models behind the Green Guide and the Environmental Profiles Methodology would be hugely beneficial in this area, it said. BREEAM should also clearly set


UKGBC members would welcome the sharing of performance data from BREEAM n


BREEAM should publish the performance data it


gathers to help the sector meet its emissions reduction targets, according to a new report. The UK Green Building Council


(UKGBC), the independent advisory body, consulted its members about how the UK environmental assessment method could be improved, in light of the planned updating of BREEAM next year. According to the UKGBC, it was generally felt that the 2011 update was necessary. But members,


covering a range of businesses and organisations, stressed that the sharing of performance data from BREEAM-rated buildings would be hugely beneficial for the industry. This, alongside integrating


operational performance into building certification, would help deal with discrepancies between design-stage energy use calculations and actual energy use in occupation. It was also felt that BRE Global


should review the BREEAM guidance to consider new areas for


out future strategies and direction so that industry is prepared for future changes, including how these will relate to government policies and regulations. The report also recommends that


a specific retrofitting scheme should be introduced. Martin Townsend, director


of BREEAM at BRE, said: ‘The UKGBC workshop [that gave rise to the report] was an important opportunity for me and the team to hear first-hand the changes we need to make on a wide range of issues and importantly the pace stakeholders want to see these happen.’ BRE Global said it would respond


to the report’s findings in due course. www.ukgbc.org


Homes in London ‘kick-started’


Sixteen housing schemes in London that were at risk because of a lack of funding are to share more than £50m. The Homes and Communities


Agency (HCA) has provided the cash to the 16 housing and regeneration schemes to build more than 500 new homes.


Seven of the projects were former ‘Kick-start’ schemes and nine are local authority new builds. In total, £51.7m is being provided


to support these projects from the London region budget. The funding follows a lengthy


review of the projects to cut costs, which resulted in more than £3.6m


being saved from the HCA’s London budget for the local authority new-build projects. A number of other former London Kick-start schemes remain subject to further consideration. To view the full list of resurrected schemes, visit www. homesandcommunities.co.uk


Cuts risk UK missing carbon targets


The UK risks missing its own legally binding carbon targets if funding for low carbon technologies is not protected, an advisory body to government has warned. The Committee on Climate Change’s (CCC) latest report, Building a low-carbon economy – the UK’s innovation challenge, concludes that if there is any reduction in the £550m per year low carbon


12 CIBSE Journal September 2010


technologies currently receive, it would increase the risk of missing carbon budgets. The budgets were set to ensure the UK ultimately meets its 80% carbon reduction by 2050. It also fears that the UK would lose out on critical opportunities to build a green economy. And, once financial pressures


have eased, the CCC recommends that funding should be increased


in specific areas, such as marine technologies and low carbon innovation more generally, over the next decade. If government fails to do this, the


CCC warns that a range of essential low carbon technologies are likely to get stuck in a so-called ‘valley of death’ where development is curtailed, and they fail to make it to market. www.theccc.org.uk


www.cibsejournal.com


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