NEWS
CRC fi nes imposed despite review
Despite calls to cancel or reform the Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC), four companies have been fi ned a total of £99,000 for failing to deliver the required reports. Utility fi rm Saur was fi ned £41,000, Henkel £38,000, while Tomkins and BI Group each suffered £10,000 penalties at the hands of the Environment Agency for submitting carbon footprint reports after the deadline. Firms face fi nes of £500 for each working day a CRC report remains outstanding, plus a £5,000 penalty if the report is delayed more than 40 working days past the deadline. The scheme targets organisations with energy bills higher than £500,000 and compels them to measure and pay for each tonne of CO2 they emit. The scheme is currently the subject of a government consultation in the face of criticism about complexity and high administration costs. The government believes administrative costs for businesses could be cut by £250m by 2030.
UK tops energy effi ciency ranking
The UK has been placed top in a new energy effi ciency ranking of major economies, published in the US. It is followed by Germany, Japan
and Italy, according to the fi rst-ever International Energy Effi ciency Scorecard produced by the American Council for an Energy-Effi cient Economy
www.aceee.org
The rankings are based on metrics that make up energy use, as well as the sectors primarily responsible for energy consumption – buildings, industry and transportation. However, another report published by the Department for Business has drawn criticism of UK climate change policies from the business community. It reveals that UK policy adds more to energy intensive industries’ electricity costs than in any other country. ‘These fi gures should come as a wake-up call to the government. It must help those companies most at risk from higher energy costs, and make provisions for them in its forthcoming Energy Bill,’ said Katja Hall, chief policy director at the CBI.
8 CIBSE Journal August 2012
Legionella source may never be found
The source of the recent outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease in Edinburgh may never be identifi ed, according to a leading expert. Bill McCoy, chair of the ASHRAE committee that produced the proposed Standard 188, covering the prevention of legionellosis associated with building water systems, said investigators would fi nd it hard to pinpoint the source in such a large outbreak. More than 100 people have contracted the disease and three had died (when the Journal went to press). Sixteen cooling towers across four sites in the South West of the city have been treated, but McCoy said it would prove diffi cult to pin the blame on one building. During a visit to CIBSE last month he said: ‘In most cases, the source is never proved.’ Standard 188, which has just been published by ASHRAE, sets out an approach for managing hazard levels in buildings. McCoy said: ‘Legal and insurance experts are insisting, more and more, that building operators adopt a defensive stance. This means ensuring they have a system in place that identifi es all the critical control points for preventing outbreaks – then, at least, they can say it
didn’t come from here.’
The CIBSE meeting heard that a large number of outbreaks were not attributable to cooling towers, yet they are often the focus of investigations. McCoy said risks were equally high in potable water services.
Meanwhile, Basildon Hospital has been told it is not doing enough to eradicate the risk of legionella, despite spending millions on the problem since a fatal outbreak 10 years ago. The management says it spends a sixth of the entire maintenance
More than 100 people have contracted Legionnaires’ disease so far since the recent outbreak in Edinburgh
More than 100 people have contracted Legionnaires’ disease so far since the recent outbreak in Edinburgh
budget – about £500,000 a year – on legionella control, but regulators say it has still not met its targets to minimise risk. Hospital chairman
Ian Luder said: ‘If there was a golden bullet, we would take it. But we have sought advice from all the national experts and they all agree the bug cannot be completely eradicated. ‘We have spent £2 million since 2002 and £500,000 a year on water management systems.’ The hospital has had another 13 cases since the fatality in 2002.
Industry mourns loss of Mel Starrs
issues in the built environment. An associate director at architect PRP, Starrs also had extensive experience working as a building services engineer at Halcrow, Babtie, Whitby Bird and Max Fordham.
Tributes have poured in for Mel Starrs, who died suddenly at her home this month, aged 38. Starrs was a strong advocate for sustainability and was a prolifi c blogger and social media user on
Starrs had been working with CIBSE immediate past president Andy Ford on a new CIBSE Diversity programme. Ford said: ‘I am shocked and sad to hear of Mel Starrs’ death. ‘I was personally very much looking forward to working with her to launch the CIBSE Diversity programme and a CIBSE Women’s
group and our task will be all the harder without her. ‘Although I had only really known her through her online efforts at driving for a better sustainable built environment, these were huge and I admired them enormously. ‘My thoughts are with her family and friends – a special person indeed and a sad loss.’ Tributes poured in across the construction industry. Fairsnape’s Martin Brown summed up the thoughts of many: ‘The built environment has lost an important sustainability champion, maven and friend. We have lost an anchor.’
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