Knowledge is Power
April 2007 – Consultation is sought by the UK government on a proposed Climate Change Bill. Comments to be in by June 1st 2007
*Climate Change Bill *To combat climate change by setting annual targets for the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions until 2050; to place duties on the Prime Minister regarding the reporting on and achievement of those targets; to specify procedures to be followed if the targets are not met; to specify certain functions of and provide certain powers to Members of Parliament with regard to ensuring carbon dioxide emissions are reduced; to set sectoral reduction targets and targets for energy efficiency, the generation of energy from renewable sources, combined heat and power and microgeneration; and for connected purposes. /Presented by Mr Michael Meacher supported by Mr Tim Yeo, Norman Baker, Mr John Gummer, Robert Key, Vera Baird, Joan Ruddock, Emily Thornberry, Tony Lloyd, Andrew George, Mr Martin Horwood and Mr Mike Weir. Ordered, by /The House of Commons, /to be Printed/, 13/th July /2005.
The proposed bill will require everybody to reduce their carbon emissions by 60% by 2050, this effectively will make every existing business and household redundant if it is not brought up to sustainable standards.
ECOZEST calculates that it will cost an average UK household about £25,000 to upgrade to the requisite standard. That is £550 billion at least to upgrade the UK's 22 million existing houses alone in 42 years.
ECOZEST has asked the government who they expect to bear this enormous burden ? householders ? taxpayers ? private investors ? or the utilities who profit from selling polluting fuel and power ?
23 April 2007
*FROM 10 DOWNING STREET - THE BIG ISSUES * The PM joined big businesses in London as they launched their plan to tackle climate change.
Eight firms including British Gas, B&Q and Tesco took part in a Climate Group event to promote the "We're In This Together" message.
The idea of the Climate Group's campaign is for businesses, communities and the Government to provide practical ideas of how individuals can reduce their carbon footprint.
The Prime Minister said:
"I fully support this inspiring and groundbreaking campaign. The Government will continue to give a lead in tackling climate change both at home and internationally to reduce emissions globally. By working together - as individuals, businesses and nations - we can meet this challenge and safeguard our way of life and our planet."
Later in the year the government will launch its own online CO2 calculator to help people work out their own carbon footprint.
The Climate Group is an independent, non-profit organisation dedicated to helping emissions reduction. *More about We're In This Together (new window)* *Visit our climate change section*
_http://www.pm.gov.uk/output/Page9020.asp _ Mr Blair also visited Marks and Spencer in Covent Garden [pictured] this morning to hear about their plans to help consumers save the planet.
Chief Executive Stuart Rose said the retailer would be labelling its clothes to encourage shoppers to wash them at 30 degrees C - saving 40 per cent of the energy each time. * MAY 2007
From *RIBA PRACTICE BULLETIN - No. 397 (10 May 2007)
*LANDLORD ENERGY STATEMENTS and DISPLAY ENERGY CERTIFICATES
*BPF PAVES WAY FOR OFFICE ENERGY CERTIFICATES The British Property Federation has launched what it expects will become the new industry standard for reporting on energy use and carbon emissions in commercial office buildings. The Landlord’s Energy Statement (LES) will be used to benchmark offices against similar properties and is expected to become a reporting tool for commercial landlords interested in deriving their corporate carbon footprints.
As the LES is based on actual energy use, the statements are also being offered as a mechanism for generating Display Energy Certificates (DECs), the energy rating notices that public bodies will have to display in all buildings open to the public from April next year. Unlike the forthcoming Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs), based on calculated emissions, DECs will have to be derived from buildings in use.
It is quite clear that the BPF has been talking to the Communities Department about how DECs should be extended to other publicly-accessed buildings and it expects the government to announce broader DEC requirements later this year. So expect versions of the LES for other commercial building types to appear in the near future – the Federation suggests that shopping centres and hotels are top of the list.
The LES is generated online from data on the landlord’s energy services - heating/cooling, communal lighting, lifts etc. - and while it will be used primarily by landlords and property agents, its benchmarking function will offer designers a useful comparison tool for their own new and refurbished office projects.
Work is already underway at the BPF to build on the LES model by producing a detailed statement of energy use by individual building tenants, to be known as the Tenant’s Energy Review (TER). The Federation is working with the Usable Buildings Trust, the British Council for Offices and CIBSE on the project, which is being supported by a £140,000 grant from the Carbon Trust. It is hoped that project will help bridge the energy efficiency gap between landlords and their tenants.
When the TER appears in about 12 months time, it will provide all of the data necessary for a public sector tenant to generate a Display Energy Certificate.
The workbook and guidance for generating a LES is at http://www.les-ter.org and there is a LES-TER Five Step guide to the BPF initiative available at http://www.bpf.org.uk/pdf/20827/Les-ter%20Five%20Steps%20booklet_final.pdf
*From *RIBA PRACTICE BULLETIN - No. 397 (10 May 2007)
*LOW CARBON BUILDING PROGRAMME * IF THE CAP DOESN’T FIT, GET PLANNING PERMISSION The DTI announced this week that it will be turning the Low Carbon Buildings Programme back on for householders at the end of the month, but with the new condition that applicants must have planning permission in place before applying.
Alistair Darling’s announcement comes just one month after communities secretary Ruth Kelly announced her intention to scrap the need for planning permission by extending householder development rights for exactly the same technologies (Practice Bulletin 392).
With the LCBP already held up to ridicule over the DTI’s rationing of householder grants, which led to grants being exhausted within a few hours of each new month and the suspension of the scheme at the end of March, Darling is clearly feeling very secure ahead of a cabinet reshuffle, or perhaps he is heading back to the Treasury and doesn’t care.
Bizarrely, the DTI statement adds that the changes to the grants system are being introduced to overcome delays in the take-up of grants, which had always appeared to be the least of the LCBP’s problems.
Other changes include shorter grant offer periods, tighter rules on extensions, a £2,500 limit per household and the abolition of the monthly cap - presumably because the planning system will be able to slow things down sufficiently on its own.
The recent Budget added an additional £6m to the LCBP’s householder grants stream, which brings the total still available to £11.9m. The broader renewable energy grants programme is worth a total of £86m. More information at http://www.lcbp.co.uk
*From *RIBA PRACTICE BULLETIN - No. 397 (10 May 2007)
*GREENING ARCHITECTURAL ADVICE TO HOMEOWNERS * ARCHITECTURE WEEK: GREEN ARCHITECT YOUR HOME Promotion of RIBA Architect in the House, the perennial feature of Architecture Week that offers a one hour consultation in return for a £40 donation to Shelter, is getting under way this week with a distinctly green look.
This year’s Architecture Week is subtitled ‘How Green is our Space?’ and the theme is being extended to homeowners who are being encouraged to speak to a local architect about their own domestic green issues, or the lack of them.
Homeowners can now register their interest in RIBA Architect in the House at http://www.architectureweek.org.uk and will be matched with a local participating architect during or after Architecture Week, which runs from 15-24 June. Architects can register to take part at http://www.riba.org/archweek
Architects Jestico + Whiles have meanwhile prepared some green tips that home owners can think about ahead of their consultations, which have been posted at http://architecture.com
MAY 14th 2007
Gordon Brown Chancellor of the Exchequer - prospective Prime Minister in waiting - announced plans to build 100,000 zero carbon houses in five new 'eco-towns' .
May 14th 2007
Rupert Murdoch states he's 'proud to be green' when announcing that he is 'changing the DNA' of the News Corporation and it will aim to be 'carbon neutral by 2010'. All News Corps cars are to be hybrids - like Murdoch's own hybrid Lexus. News Corp will also aim to 'inspire people to change their behaviour' through films, television and the press.* *