NEWS
BREEAM RECORD FOR STUDENT FLATS
This Bradford University student accommodation block, built in the Bradford Learning Quarter in the city centre, has achieved the world’s highest BREEAM Design Stage score to date, reaching 95.05%, according to the scheme’s M&E contractor, Balfour Beatty Engineering. The 1,026-bedroom site, known the Green, has, among its features, prefabricated open panel timber wall frames, bathroom pods built off site, a combined heat and power system, and rainwater harvesting. The buildings will also be used to help students learn about environmental sustainability.
School emissions rising despite drop in heating
● Research shows rise in electricity use as heating demand drops
The carbon dioxide emissions of schools in England are still rising, despite reductions to their heating demands, according to new research. Researchers from the University of Cambridge
and Shinawatra University in Thailand used data from 25,000 Display Energy Certifi cates (DECs) produced in 2008-09. This allowed them to study almost 40% of the primary and secondary schools in England. They found
that.improvements to buildings’ thermal performance and heating systems had, as expected, resulted in reduced heating consumption. But electricity consumption was still found to
technology to support teaching and learning in recent years. This may also go some way to explaining why academy schools had signifi cantly higher energy consumption profi les than normal secondary schools. Typical CO2 emissions per pupil were found to be
‘ The paper establishes the need for continued monitoring of buildlings’
have risen, resulting in an increase in emissions. The researchers suggest that DEC benchmarks used for energy consumption in schools had in general underestimated the amount of electrical energy that schools consume. But they point out that that there could be a range of
reasons for the rise in schools’ electricity consumption, including the increase in IT facilities and other
www.cibsejournal.com
116% higher in academies than in primary schools – more than double the fi gure for secondary schools, which were 47% higher compared with primaries. Professor Koen Steemers, head of the department of architecture at Cambridge University, said: ‘This research shows that design strategies to reduce heat loss have been moderately effective, but have been offset by increasing electricity demands, for mechanical ventilation, lighting or
equipment.’ He added: ‘In the context of national and international targets to reduce emissions, the paper establishes the need for continued monitoring and research into the relative roles of building design, systems and occupant behaviour to ensure that the emissions trend is downwards.’
The fi ndings are published in Building Research & Information.
www.tandf.co.uk/journals/rbri
BUILDING CERTIFICATES COULD FACE REVIEW
The new Green Construction Board is likely to consider the use of energy certifi cates as part of its plans to review progress on policies to promote green construction. The board, made up of ministerial and industry representatives, will look to take forward the government’s Low Carbon Construction Action Plan. Co-chair of the board, Dan
Labbad, suggested that its work would need to include the measurement of energy use in buildings. The news follows the government’s decision not to extend the manadatory use of Display Energy Certifi cates to commercial buildings, as part of the new Energy Act. Paul King, chief executive of the
UK Green Building Council, said that the property sector needed to see a roll-out of DECs ‘showing actual energy use for landlords and tenants, so we can see who is doing a good job of managing their carbon emissions, and who is not doing their bit’. See Regulations column, page 20
December 2011 CIBSE Journal
7
Balfour Beatty Engineering Services
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