Building Magazine’s 30 things to know about Part L

1.  Part L is the Part of the Building Regulations that covers the conservation of fuel and power in all structures, domestic and non-domestic. 2.  The proposals are intended to be the next step towards all new buildings being zero carbon from 2016. 3.  The government proposes the carbon emission standards for new homes be […]

Report highlights problems with ‘fit-and-forget’ approach to renewable technoloigies in social housing to tackle fuel poverty

According to a report at Sheffield Hallam University, social-housing providers are installing renewable energy systems without fully understanding how the technologies perform or what level of savings are being delivered to residents, in what has been labelled a ‘fit-and-forget’ approach to fuel poverty. The Centre of Infrastructure Management at the university stated that PV arrays […]

BREEAM IN-USE:Residential and Commercial Buildings use BREEAM to improve sustainability

The Building Research Establishment Assessment Method (BREEAM) is the leading environmental method used to measure a building’s environmental performance. The principles relate to UK Building Regulations and are relevant to all commercial, industrial, retail and residential buildings. Installing more sustainable energy measures in a building is a key factor in reducing carbon emissions; businesses can […]

Green Deal Consultants

A quarter of the UK’s carbon emissions come from the energy used in homes with a similar amount coming from our businesses, industry and workplaces.  On a national scale the UK economy needs to reduce CO2 emissions to comply with the carbon emissions budget legislated in the The Climate Change Act 2008. The Green Deal […]

Sustainable Property Assessments

Reducing the carbon footprint is now a major strategy in government and any commercial and residential developments must now adhere to current sustainable energy legislation’s.  Many more regulations are being planned over the forthcoming years with the objective being that by 2020 all new buildings will be zero carbon and carbon emissions reduced by 34%. […]

Celotex – Raising the standard on social housing

Thousands of families across the UK are living in houses which are not sufficiently warm, weather tight or thermally efficient. With buildings responsible for almost 50% of the UK’s energy consumption and carbon emissions it has become even more pressing to refurbish and make sustainable our ageing social housing stock. As developers, how do you […]

UK-Green Building Council calls on industry to take carbon lead

Paul King, chief executive of UK-GBC said that the sustainability body is encouraging tackling carbon emissions with the profit and the independence that it brings, not having to rely on the government to implement change. The UK-GBC is also calling on its 330 members to disclose their carbon footprints and calculate full-life carbon for buildings […]

When will builders ‘Go Green’ ?

Now is the time for house builders to change their ways and implement change to achieve the government’s target of an 80% reduction in carbon emissions by 2015. However, there are those still questioning the cost of this change to not only a construction cost but to their business itself. There are two options; completely […]

Global recession creates drop in energy consumption

It was announced in BP’s Statistical Review of World Energy 2010 that energy consumption reflected the pattern of the recession and recovery.  On a global scale it was reported that coal consumption was flat and the consumption of oil, natural gas  and nuclear power had all declined.  Hydroelectric output and other sustainable forms of energy […]

The looming Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC)

The Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) comes into force next April, requiring evidence packs, early actions and growth metrics. A shortfall of performance could add £100,000 to costs (energy not saved) plus, in the first year, the required two year additional cost of £24 per CO2 tonne for the additional emissions carbon permits. That is a […]