NEWS In Brief
CLEAN ENERGY CONCERNS Clean energy technologies are not being deployed quickly enough, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). Launching its annual report, the IEA said most clean energy technologies were not on course to reduce carbon emissions fast enough, while not enough is being made of energy efficiency.
www.iea.org
HONDA BUILDS ‘SMART’HOME Technology giant Honda says it has built a ‘smart home’ in Japan. The house’s features include thin-film solar panels, a gas-engine co-generation unit and water supply system, and an energy management device.
world.honda.com
FUNDING FOR LOW CARBON A £35m Energy Entrepreneurs Fund has been launched to encourage small- and medium- sized businesses to develop low carbon, energy efficiency technologies. In the first wave of funding, £20m will target energy efficiency in buildings. www.
lowcarbonfunding.co.uk
ELECTRICAL STANDARDS CALL The Trading Standards Institute has warned against any reduction in electrical installation and fire safety standards. In its response to the government’s consultation on streamlining the Building Regulations, the TSI says Part P should be fully retained in its current form. www.
tradingstandards.gov.uk
Homeowners ‘dangerously ignorant’ of Building Regs
l MPs call for a public awareness campaign for households on regulations
Householders are dangerously ignorant about their responsibilities under the Building Regulations, according to a leading group of MPs.
They are urging the government to work with DIY chains on a public awareness campaign to clear up confusion around notifying work to Building Control, as well as gas and electrical safety.
Speaking at the recent CIBSE Patrons annual
Betts also pointed out that 50% of gas work in UK homes is carried out by unregulated people and so was illegal. ‘Part P [of the Building Regulations] has a big part to play in improving safety in British homes and the government must not diminish it in any way.’ CIBSE president Andy Ford thanked Betts for his ‘honesty’. He said there was nothing more important than raising householder awareness and pointing out that people are ‘breaking the law’.
‘We as MPs recognise that there needs to be greater awareness among the public of their responsibilities’
lunch at the House of Lords, Clive Betts MP, chair of the House of Commons Communities and Local Government select committee, told the meeting that most MPs were also unaware that householders were responsible for notifying local authority Building Control about changes in their homes. ‘We all thought that was done by the contractor,’ he said. ‘This has had a big impact on our thinking and we recognise that there needs to be greater awareness among the general public.’
Lord Martin O’Neill told the meeting that he was concerned about the impact labour shortages would have on the building engineering sector if the
economy started to recover. O’Neill, who is chairman of the Specialist Engineering Contractors’ (SEC) Group also said the industry would find it hard to meet the government’s challenge of reducing prices by 30% while also delivering the infrastructure improvements required.
He urged the industry to embrace Building Information Modelling (BIM) because ‘it is the future and ebusiness will overtake us all before we know where we are’.
UK aims to simplify emissions trading i0522-36 HumEvap AD AW_CIBSE Magazine 190x66 09/03/2012 09:59 Page 1
As part of the government’s drive to cut red tape, the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) regulation will be simplified for UK firms. The UK also proposes to remove the threat of criminal charges and only use civil penalties to enforce the scheme. A consultation is now under way about turning 13 separate ETS regulations into just one from next year. The UK also wants to offer small emitters and hospitals the
opportunity to ‘opt out’ from 2013 into a ‘lighter touch’ alternative scheme.
‘This will address the disproportionately higher administrative burden faced by these installations per tonne of CO2 emitted,’ the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) stated. However, DECC said it was still committed to a system that is expected to help deliver two thirds of required
emissions reductions after 2012. Climate Change Minister Greg Barker said: ‘We have worked closely with industry to develop sensible proposals that will genuinely save companies money and time, while still allowing them to meet environmental goals.’ The consultation runs until 1 July and the revised regulations will take effect from January 2013, which is the start date for the third phase of the ETS.
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10 CIBSE Journal June 2012
www.cibsejournal.com
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