NEWS All the latest news from around the building industry In Brief
INDUSTRY FIGURES HONOURED Several industry figures were recognised in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list. These included the following, all of whom received CBEs: Alan Baxter; Paul Golby, chief executive of E.ON UK; Terence Hill, chairman of Arup Group; Professor Paul William Jowitt, president of the Institution of Civil Engineers; and John McDonough, chief executive of Carillion. Jo da Silva, director of Arup International Development, received an OBE for her humanitarian work.
‘SUSTAINABLE’ PLANNING The government has published its planning-reform proposals, aimed at giving a ‘presumption in favour of sustainable development’, and local communities a ‘key say’ in new developments, according to the Department for Communities and Local Government.
www.communities.gov.uk
CLIMATE TARGETS MISSED The government’s record on improving energy efficiency in buildings has been too slow, according to a report by the CBI. It’s ‘climate change tracker’ – covering buildings, industry, transport and power sectors – found that ministers had failed on 12 out of 13 climate change ‘indicators’. The only policy still on track was for nuclear power.
www.cbi.org.uk/climatetracker
ENERGY REFORMS CRITICISED Government plans to reform the electricity market and raise investment capital have been criticised by MPs. Members of the Climate Change Committee do not believe the ‘over-complex’ proposals will raise the £110bn of capital that the Department of Energy and Climate Change is hoping for.
Joint board to lead on new low carbon plan
l Government to work with industry to implement spate of new reforms
A joint government and industry action plan to ‘decarbonise’ the construction industry has been published. The plan represents ministers’ response to the recent Final Report of the independent Innovation and Growth Team (IGT), which called for greater integration of the construction supply chain. According to new report, Low Carbon Construction
Action Plan, a Green Construction Board will be set up this month and chaired by construction minister Mark Prisk. Prisk said the plan would provide the ‘certainty needed for construction companies to invest in essential new skills, processes and products’. An updated Carbon Plan and a ‘route
Paul Morrell: Welcomes new construction plan
map’ for low carbon infrastructure will be published in October this year, according to the report. The 2050 Group, a cross-industry working party that reported to the IGT, will also be encouraged to continue to meet. From this autumn the government will begin publishing quarterly reports on a ‘rolling two year forward programme of infrastructure and construction projects where public funding has been agreed’. A programme of pilot projects to test innovative projects and processes will also be started soon, the report says. A new industry forum will be set up next summer, with CIBSE among its members, to identify
‘ To ensure that construction to the low carbon challenge, we need to continue this new level of cooperation’
when the use of building information modelling is appropriate. The report says compliance with
Energy Performance Certificates, will be improved from October when sellers or landlords of both domestic and non- domestic buildings will need to have an EPC before marketing the property. But the report makes no commitment to requiring non-domestic buildings to
use Display Energy Certificates. Paul Morrell, the Chief Construction Adviser, who
chaired the IGT, said: ‘To ensure that construction rises to the low carbon challenge, we need to continue this new level of cooperation, so I am also pleased that a joint government and industry board has been set up to ensure implementation of this plan.’
For more information visit:
www.bis.gov.uk/constructionigt
MP presses for roll-out of DECs in bill
An amendment to the Energy Bill could see all commercial buildings having to have display energy certificates (DECs), giving an energy efficiency rating for the property. Conservative MP Zac Goldsmith
has tabled the amendment to the bill, which does not otherwise mention the certificates. The clause contains a direction
for the Secretary of State to require a DEC to be displayed in
8 CIBSE Journal July 2011
all commercial buildings ‘in a prominent place’ within 12 months of the passing of the bill. Goldsmith, a keen environmentalist, is a member of the scrutiny committee for the bill. The MP for Richmond Park and
North Kingston told the Journal: ‘Display Energy Certificates are already mandatory for public sector buildings over 1000 sq m, but not for the commercial sector. This is a simple enabling clause, giving
the government the power to initiate a phased roll-out of DECs to the commercial sector through secondary legislation. My reason for tabling the amendment is that if you don’t know how much energy you are using, you can’t manage it. I am pleased that the amendment has the support of the CBI, the UK Green Building Council, the British Property Federation, and the Association for the Conservation of Energy.’
www.cibsejournal.com
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