NEWS All the latest news from around the building industry
RUSSIANS ADOPT BREEAM CERTIFICATION AT SOCHI OLYMPICS
Buro Happold and Aecom are carrying out BREEAM assessments at two major Winter Olympic Games venues in Sochi. The organisers asked Buro Happold to assess the Bolshoi Ice Palace (above), while Aecom’s Russian office is assessing the Adler Arena skating centre. Ten major projects are being assessed under BREEAM, and four have already been awarded
a Very Good rating, including the Sochi Olympic Park railway station and the Russian International Olympic University, which was assessed by PRP Architects. The Olympics has helped kickstart a sustainable building revolution in Russia, despite the low cost of energy – a four-bed apartment can cost as little as £13 on month energy bills. Read more on page 32.
Europe imposes tough new rules on HFC refrigerants
Regulations set to come into effect in 2015, with a wider ban on GWP gases in 2020
Environmentalists have greeted new refrigerant gas regulations announced by the European Commission (EC) as ‘the beginning of the end for HFCs in Europe’. Following months of negotiations over the revisions to the F-Gas Regulation, new rules capping the use of HFC refrigerants in heating and cooling equipment will come into effect in 2015, in an attempt to cut the industry’s use of global warming gases by 79% by 2030. The EC has also agreed to a traceability system to better track equipment containing F-gases that is imported into the EU, as well as a service and maintenance ban
to ensure that current equipment moves towards environmentally friendly alternatives.
An agreement was also reached to extend the bans on HFC equipment by introducing a Global Warming Potential (GWP) limit for large refrigeration systems and small split air conditioners.
‘The phase-down will steer innovation and help industry to move towards alternative solutions in a safe and efficient way,’ said Andrea Voigt, director general of the European Partnership for Energy and the Environment (EPEE), which represents manufacturers
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‘The phase- down will steer innovation and help industry move towards alternatives’
of air conditioning, refrigeration and heating equipment. He added that EPEE was pleased the decision would ‘provide regulatory certainty to ensure long-term business planning – all of which will ultimately benefit the EU economy’. EPEE said it did not believe the new bans were needed to reach climate goals, but accepted they had helped ‘reach a common political agreement’. A ban on using refrigerants over 2,500 GWP in service and maintenance will be imposed from 2020, and will apply to all equipment with a charge over 40t CO2 equivalent. Member states will also have to have ‘producer responsibility schemes’ for encouraging recovery of F-Gases. ‘These new rules are a vital addition to the EU’s arsenal of measures to tackle climate change,’ said Green MEP Bas Eickhout. ‘After falling back in other areas of climate policy, this new
legislation will enable the EU to justifiably claim to be leading on this crucial issue.’
Environmental groups were more cautious. Clare
Perry, from the Environmental Investigation Agency, said they would have preferred ‘more bans with fewer loopholes as these are the most effective method of preventing greenhouse gas emissions’. However, she added that it was ‘the beginning of the end for HFCs in Europe – at least now the industries involved will be able to see which way the wind is blowing and invest in cleaner, greener alternatives’.
February 2014 CIBSE Journal 7
Industry figures honoured
The New Year’s Honours list included an OBE for John Doggart, the founder of SEA and co-founder of ECD, for services to Sustainable Energy Technologies and Energy Efficiency.
Graham Jukes, chief executive,
Chartered Institute of Environmental Health was also made an OBE for services to environmental health in the UK and abroad. Dr Deborah Pullen, director of the Modern Built Environment Knowledge Transfer Network and group research director at the BRE was made an MBE for services to innovation and knowledge transfer. Mrs Eve Farraud, a member of the management team at the Construction Industry Council, was awarded the BEM for services to the construction industry.
Dr Deborah Pullen MBE
MARTYNOVA ANNA / SHUTTERSTOCK
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