CHINESE CHALLENGE
Construction of a huge development in northern China, designed by Atkins, has begun. The 300,000 sq m riverside mixed- use development is centred on a series of landscaped squares and paths and includes a 30-storey fi ve-star hotel tower, 1,500 residential units, and offi ce and retail space. The development is enclosed on
two sides by water, and integrated into the surrounding neighbourhoods on its other faces. These boundary conditions presented a signifi cant challenge for the architects as there were four ‘fronts’ to the development, meaning that façade design and building form had to be carefully modelled to integrate well in all directions, according to Atkins.
Ministers seek Supreme Court ruling on tariff cut
The government has pledged £460m to the feed-in tariff (FiT) scheme but has insisted that it will proceed with a legal challenge over its plans to cut the tariff for domestic solar photovoltaic installations. It has also relaxed the requirement for all
eligible properties to have an Energy Performance Certifi cate (EPC) rating of C or above. They will only require a D rating. Other plans, which are currently the subject of
i0522-27 CondairMK5 AD AW_CIBSE Magazine 190x66 14/09/2011 10:37 Page 1
a public consultation that ends in April, include increasing the tariff for micro-combined heat and power (CHP) from 10.5p/kWh to 12.5p/kWh. This is less than the 15p recommended by the industry, but still received a warm welcome.
However, the Solar Trade Association (STA)
said it was disappointed by the the Department for Energy and Climate Change’s (DECC’s) decision to try to push ahead with its plan to cut the solar tariff by half to 21p per kWh. ‘This could prolong by several months the
consumer uncertainty for installations between 12 December 2011 and 3 March 2012, which is most regrettable,’ the STA said. In January the government failed to overturn in
the Court of Appeal an earlier High Court ruling that the planned tariff cut, affecting installations completed on or before 12 December 2011, was unlawful because it would take effect before the end of a consultation on the plan.
Last month DECC made a concession by
putting back the completion cut-off date to 2 March, with the revised rate applying from 3 March. DECC said in a statement on its application
to appeal to the Supreme Court: ‘We want to see the available funding spread as far and wide as possible, making FiTs a scheme for the many not a scheme for the few, supporting sustainable jobs in solar and in a whole range of small scale renewables.’ The government estimates that the cost of solar
PV systems has fallen by 45% since 2009, but the surge in demand created by the FiT scheme has led to a huge overspend of the predicted budget.
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www.cibsejournal.com March 2012 CIBSE Journal 7
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