NEWS All the latest news from around the building industry In Brief


£2BN FOR SCHOOL REBUILDS Education Secretary Michael Gove has pledged £2bn to rebuild 300 schools under Private Finance Initiative (PFI) schemes. He said the schools built under PFI would be expected to increase energy efficiency. Gove also confirmed the government would seek ‘standardised specifications and drawings’ for school buildings. www.education.gov.uk


GLOOMY SECTOR FORECAST A gloomy forecast from the Construction Products Association, predicting another two years of declining workloads, names London office building, energy projects and private housing as the only bright spots. Output this year is projected to fall by 0.5%, followed by a greater drop of 2.8% as public investment dries up. www.constructionproducts. org.uk


SYMPOSIUM GOES GLOBAL More than 50 presentations have been approved for the first ever CIBSE Technical Symposium. Technical experts from all over the world will take part in the event at De Montfort University, Leicester, from September 6-7. www.cibse.org/events


ENERGY STANDARD REVIEW The current BS EN 16001 energy management standard looks set to be replaced ‘some time next year’ with the first internationally recognised energy management standard BS ISO 50001. A full package of publications, training, certification, software and kitemark for energy reduction verification will be offered by the British Standards Institution (BSI). www.bsigroup.com


Campaign grows for roll out of DECs in Energy Bill


l CIBSE and other bodies write to Chancellor to lobby for wider application of certificates


CIBSE has written to the Chancellor, George Osborne, calling for the introduction of Display Energy Certificates (DECs) in the commercial sector. The move is part of a growing campaign in the


sector, with the UK Green Building Council and others also writing directly to Osborne to press for the roll out of DECs to non-domestic buildings. DECs already apply to public buildings and there


is growing evidence that they are helping to reduce public spending on energy bills, according to CIBSE. The government has recently announced that it has cut carbon emissions from its estate by 13.8% in the year to May – signficantly exceeding its own target of a 10% reduction. The fall, which was achieved across


3,000 government buildings, cut government energy bills by £13m. There have been widespread calls


‘ Energy not being a core concern for businesses, DECs are unlikely to be taken up voluntarily’


to introduce DECs for larger business premises, and the Committee Stage of the Energy Bill showed cross government support for DECs, and a strong appetite for using the Energy Bill as a vehicle for introducing the necessary enabling legislation, according to CIBSE. ‘But there have been concerns in government that


DECs would be a burden, not a benefit,’ the institution said. ‘The savings of £13m far exceed the costs of the


certificates, making them a significant net benefit, not a cost burden. CIBSE is therefore calling on Mr Osborne to support the amendment of the Energy Bill to include provisions for DECs in the commercial sector. ‘With energy not being a core concern


for many businesses, DECS are unlikely to be taken up voluntarily.’ The UKGBC letter to the Chancellor


argues that ‘mandatory DECs [for commercial buildings] will increase investment in low carbon services and products, contributing to growth, and are a vital component of the retrofit programme that is needed across our built environment’.


For more information visit: www.cibse.org


Building services ‘key to zero carbon’


The key to producing zero carbon non-domestic buildings by 2019 lies in the creation of better building services, according to a report by the Department for Communities and Local Government. The report, Zero Carbon Non-


domestic Buildings Phase 3, calls for the setting of minimum standards for energy efficiency relating to building fabric elements and building services. But it says that, because there


6 CIBSE Journal August 2011


are no advantages to be gained by using standards higher than those outlined in Building Regulations Part L 2010, improvements in efficiency must come from building services. The report adds: ‘Overall,


the analysis suggests that improvements to the efficiencies of building services provide a cost-effective means of meeting zero carbon. The minimum energy efficiency values will be significantly influenced by the Energy Related


Products Directive. This is expected to require national implementation of new system-based building services energy assessment methodologies, and minimum standards of performance prior to 2019, although we may choose to select higher minimum standards of performance. In the absence of the new approach, we have proposed component-based minimum performance criteria as currently used in Part L.’ www.communities.gov.uk


www.cibsejournal.com


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