POLICY ENGINEERING KNOWLEDGE
legislation in place, it should be enforced and local authority offi cials resourced to make sure it happens. Our argument is that any possible cost increases, as a result of improving enforcement, pay for themselves in reduced energy waste and demand, and in better performing buildings. CIBSE’s depth of experience in this area can be invaluable to government offi cials when trying to make this argument stick. Another dilemma for the government is that proposed improvements for new homes under the revised Part L would add £103m to house builders’ costs every year. This clashes with the stated ambition to reduce the regulatory burden on that industry, and get our sluggish housing market moving again. Cutting other regulation could reduce the burden on businesses by £63.1m a year, as the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) seeks compensating cuts to balance the books. But while the benefi ts to homeowners
would signifi cantly outweigh those costs, those benefi ts do not count under ‘one in, one out’ as they are not benefi ts to the industry. So something that could really benefi t homebuyers may not happen because of the way the government is running the numbers. In the middle of an austerity programme following last year’s Spending Review, the government is keen to consider the fi nancial implications of all the measures it proposes. While no-one thought it would be easy to cut red tape and energy use at the same time, this result has to be a perverse outcome.
Joined-up thinking In many ways, CIBSE’s role is to help the government achieve a more joined-up outcome. Its diffi culties with renewable incentive schemes are well documented and a lot of the problems can be related to poor understanding of how different technologies work and the technical challenges that hinder a good outcome. There also seems to be a lack of understanding that there is an order for doing things; that better management of buildings can often be cost-benefi cial; that improving the fabric of a building and taking passive energy-saving measures can be low-cost with a short payback, whilst installing technology to generate renewable energy is higher-tech and higher-cost, higher-maintenance and
with a longer payback. It makes sense to do the quick, cheap things fi rst! Yet we have incentive schemes that reward the installation of technology when simple behavioural or management measures could do more, and faster, for a lot less money. We are constantly trying to join up this thinking. CIBSE members and staff have access to
the practical knowledge and experience to inform government and other members of the construction supply chain about the likely outcomes when policies or incentive schemes are imposed. We continue to press for wider use of the data gathered from the Energy Certifi cation process. If we achieve nothing else, a focus on post-occupancy analysis of how buildings work would be a signifi cant step forward. Display Energy Certifi cate (DEC)s are the most
effective thing for gathering more information and increasing our knowledge of how buildings really work in practice and how they are managed, controlled and maintained – or not. DEC information could be invaluable in
the government’s latest review of the Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC). By using DECs as a valid means of measuring emissions, government could reduce the administrative burden on building operators who have a DEC and are also captured by the CRC. The data gathered on carbon emissions by DEC inspectors could be used to determine CRC payments. It might even encourage greater voluntary use of DECs by CRC participants. This is just one example of how we are
seeking to infl uence policy and how it is enacted and translated into the everyday work of building services engineers.
Cutting regulations could reduce the burden on businesses by £63.1m a year
www.cibsejournal.com
November 2012 CIBSE Journal
9
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