NEWS In Brief
CARBON CAPTURE FUNDING ON OFFER FOR FIRMS The UK has launched a £20m competition for innovative carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies. The funding will be available for feasibility studies and actual components and systems that can be used in CCS pilots, according to the Department for Energy and Climate Changes.
www.decc.gov.uk
NEW RIBA ECO-DESIGN GUIDE FOR ARCHITECTS The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has launched a guide aimed at helping practices to integrate sustainability into their daily work. The guide also looks at strong business cases for, and the benefits of, sustainability for clients. RIBA president Angela Brady said the guide would ‘encourage more in our profession to consider all aspects of a building’s lifecycle when they are at the early design stages’.
www.architecture.com
DAVEY PLEDGES ACTION ON FUEL POVERTY Energy Secretary Ed Davey has pledged a consultation this summer ‘to improve the framework for tackling fuel poverty’. The statement follows a report from the London School of Economics, which argued that fuel poverty has become a serious issue for the UK. Those affected by fuel poverty could rise to as much as 6.6m, up from the 5.5m estimate in 2009, the report says.
www.lse.ac.uk
HOARE LEA Hoare Lea consulting engineers would like us to point out that they are part of the project team for the Birmingham New Street scheme (February Journal, page 24), and has been involved in developing the concept and strategic design for a range of services.
Extra £3.5m funds provided for Green Deal skills training
l Training is to be administered by the skills council for the Green Deal Alliance
The government has set aside £3.5m in funding to help train ‘hundreds of people’ to support delivery of the Green Deal.
This follows a coalition pledge to establish 1,000 Green Deal apprenticeships as part of a strategy for creating 65,000 new jobs in the sector by 2015. The Green Deal is the government’s flagship energy efficiency scheme aimed at renovating millions of energy-inefficient homes and office buildings.
The scheme is due to start in October, but some in the engineering and energy professions have been calling for a delay as too many details are still not known about how it will operate.
‘Trained, skilled professionals in assessing home energy efficiency and installing insulation are crucial’
The large energy firms said they would not be in a position to provide the finance packages for the Green Deal projects until 2013, and there is confusion about training for assessors and systems of accreditation of firms looking to carry out the work. ‘Trained, skilled professionals in assessing home energy efficiency and installing insulation are crucial for getting the Green Deal off the ground,’ said a Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) statement.
The new training will be administered by the sector skills councils on behalf of the Green Deal Alliance. ‘Training shortfalls have been identified as one of the main barriers to the success of the scheme,’ said CITB-ConstructionSkills chief executive Mark Farrar. ‘We have invested funds to tackle training shortages and unlock commercial opportunities for SMEs and we welcome DECC’s commitment to skills
Skilful installation of insulation will be crucial to the future success of the Green Deal, says government
and training by doing the same thing. We are now calling on employers and the supply chain to also invest in sustainable skills training for their workforce, so they too can capitalise on the Green Deal.’ DECC has also announced a £10m competition, to be launched in early May, to support the use of innovative technologies, including microgeneration, that can achieve significant energy savings in existing non-domestic buildings.
For more information visit:
www.decc.gov.uk
Scotland could decarbonise by 2020
Scotland could have a totally decarbonised electricity supply by 2020, according to the Scottish government. The use of renewables, combined with thermal generation and carbon capture and storage, makes this target achievable, according to Energy Minister Fergus Ewing. He admitted there was widespread scepticism, but said
8 CIBSE Journal April 2012
the government’s Electricity Generation Policy Statement (EGPS) showed how current energy policies could create new jobs and deliver lower domestic energy bills.
The Scottish government has also announced a £6.9m investment in 43 community group projects in a bid to shrink carbon footprints and contribute to the country’s ambitious
climate change goals.
Schools, youth organisations, and local community groups will receive support from the Climate Challenge Fund (CCF). And in Wales, the renewable and low-carbon sector could produce 250,000 new jobs in the coming years, according to the Welsh Assembly. Currently 29,000 people work in the sector.
www.cibsejournal.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68