Tag Archives: Green Deal

When our Green Deal and BIM worlds collide

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Rushing from a Green Deal event in Lancashire to the ThinkBIM BIM event in Yorkshire has me thinking of when and how these two seemingly separate worlds and agenda will collide.

Green Deal, if successful will drive mass refurbishment of domestic, non domestic and commercial existing properties with an objective of reducing energy costs / use and carbon.

Not dissimilar to Building Information Modelling (BIM) objectives of reducing waste, energy, costs and carbons in a truly collaborative manner.

Within Green Deal there will be the need to model energy efficiency options and solutions, to really collaborate across green deal players, and importantly capture all building improvements within CoBie style BIM’s for future improved approaches and solutions.

Perhaps if we were to adopt the Americanism of ‘Re-Modelling’ rather than ‘Refurbishment’ the synergies may be more transparent.

Please share your thoughts and examples of GreenDeal meeting BIM

– Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Mapping the Green Deal with ArchitectMap

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Once Green Deal is live, and indeed in the run up preparation phase, it will be of great advantage to be able to see who are the Green Deal ‘players’ on your street, in your estate, neighbourhood or town.

Green Deal, in addition to improving energy efficiency of buildings, both domestic and commercial, also has aims of carbon reduction and providing increased work for micro / small SMEs. Using local SME’s hits a number of plus buttons: carbon reduction through low transport, localism and local spend, and of course employing local SME’s to continue existing relationships.

One of the key elements in the Fairsnape “More than Just a Green Deal” support programme is visibility – being visible as a green deal player to learn, share and join in Green Deal conversations, but also to shout about preparation, accreditations and of course services offered.

ArchitectMap

It is excellent news then that ArchitectMap, a brilliant geo-location mapping app, developed by Su Butcher and Mark Schumann, for Architects, Contractors, Product organisations and more, now enables you to filter for green deal organisations.

We buy a whole range of services and goods on line these days, so why not select your green deal services online?  Sign up for ArchitectMap here and start sharing your Green Deal intentions and achievements. And of course start using ArchitectMap to find your Green Deal Team.

At the moment Contractors and Installers can map themselves, shortly Assessors, Surveyors and Product companies will be able to do so.

If you would like to know more, and how Architectmap came about check here, or get in touch with @SuButcher and or @MarkSchuey

If you would like to know more about Fairsnape Green Deal support please do get in touch with myself via @fairsnape or via email

Which? Campaigns for Improvement to #GreenDeal

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Which? believes that the Green Deal as it stands needs to change and has issued five challenges to the government to improve the deal, and make sure that it delivers a better deal for consumers.

Savings must be linked to a detailed energy assessment

Green Deal savings estimates – known as the golden rule – should be based on tailored assessments of peoples’ individual circumstances, such as how many people live in the property, and the actual energy they use.

No shocking early repayment fees

We don’t want people being punished for paying back a loan early.

No mis-selling

The government must make sure that independent assessments are a key part of the Green Deal. Having an independent assessment will mean that a customer can get impartial information before making what could potentially be a significant financial investment. We have also asked for a ban on cross-selling of items on credit during the Green Deal process.

Energy Company Obligation must be fairer

Which? would like to see  Energy Company Obligation (ECO) funding allocated to low-cost measures like loft and cavity wall insulation, which have a much greater impact (… than on solid wall insulation,)

Warranties must match the loan terms

We think that if you install energy efficiency measures in your home, they should be guaranteed for at least the length of the loan you’ve taken out to pay for them.

….

Read more: http://www.which.co.uk/campaigns/energy-and-environment/the-green-deal/what-which-wants/#ixzz1vZpFWtLP

Consumer Champions Which?

Under Creative Commons License: Attribution Non-Commercial

Green Deal Consortia Launches in Lancashire

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The following is the press release from Industry Today ‘Green Deal’ service:

Wednesday 22nd February saw the launch of the Lancashire Construction Best Practice Club’s ‘Green Deal Consortia’ initiative supported by the FMB, fairsnape, DIEMltd, the NFB, SMPR (Simply Marcomms Ltd) and UCLan.

Over 40 organisations attended the breakfast launch at the University of Central Lancashire in Preston. The event saw the coming together of like minded individuals keen to learn more about the forthcoming Green Deal which is set to go live in October 2012.

This Lancashire initiative is thought to be the first of its kind in the country to support local companies in preparing for Green Deal

The ‘Green Deal’ scheme, the Governement’s CO2 flagship programme for addressing building performance, will tackle fuel poverty and improve the energy performance of British domestic and non domestic properties, creating a high number of new jobs and work opportunities for the construction industry.

Whilst there remain many uncertainties in the detail of the Government’s Green Deal initiative, however, there is high certainty that it will happen and it will change the way refurbishments are funded and carried out.

Those that intend to carry out measures that fall under the ‘Green Deal’ eg insulation and re-newable installations will need to work in accordance with the recently issued standard PAS 2030:2012 “Improving the energy efficiency of existing buildings – specification for installation process, process management and service provision”.

As of October 2012, only accredited Green Deal contractors and installers (those that have achieved the PAS 2030 standard) will be eligible to carry out installations that fall under the Green Deal umbrella.

The Lancashire Green Deal Consortia members will be supported in understanding Green Deal, assisted in attaining PAS 2030, advised on improving green skills at operative and managerial levels, and importantly facilitated in forming consortia of organisations, who, through working together will be able to offer ‘whole house’ solutions and a far more robust Green Deal offering.

Those present and registering interest in the Consortia approach comprised of organisations such as Local Authorities, construction contractors, surveyors, electrical contractors, plumbing and heating firms alongside industry and educational bodies.

If you want to know more about how the Green Deal could affect your organisation or you would like to know more about becoming a member of the Lancashire Green Deal Consortia programme, contact Martin Brown, fairsnape, and chair of the Lancashire Construction Best Practice Club by emailing fairsnape@gmail.co.uk.

You can also keep in touch with progress of the Green Deal Initiative along with other news from the Best Practice Club by following @lcbpc on twitter or on linkedin via the Lancashire Construction group.

Posted via Industry Today. Are you into it? Follow us on Twitter@IndustryToday

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Katie Brown @katiebrowntweets
SMPR (Simply Marcomms Ltd)
Industry Today was developed by Simply Marcomms (SMPR) Online B2B PR services. Visit www.industrytoday.co.uk to publish and distribute news from your Industry. Optimised press releases now appear in Google News.

 

Is this the Green Deal tipping point?

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Building broke with the following news today (16th Feb), which can only serve to increase the importance of preparing for Green Deal, attaining PAS 2030 and creating Green Deal consortia to deliver.

“Local authorities team up to issue large-scale retrofit schemes initially worth £1.7bn

Billions of pounds worth of retrofitting work is set to be procured by some of England’s largest regional cities in response to the government’s flagship Green Deal scheme.

Councils across the north-east of England, as well as in the Greater Manchester, Leeds and Bristol city regions, Nottingham and West Sussex, are prepping plans to invest more than £300m in the government’s Green Deal over the next few months – a figure that could rise to billions as the schemes are rolled out.

The councils’ plans follow those of Birmingham council, which is currently shortlisting firms for £1.4bn of Green Deal work – bringing the total initial work to £1.7bn.

The push from local authorities to lead on the Green Deal came as retailer Marks & Spencer’s enthusiasm for delivering the scheme appeared to be cooling. Rowland Hill, M&S corporate social responsibility manager, told Building the retailer would not be interested in providing services for the Green Deal “if it goes too far from our core business”.

The government has been keen to involve major retailers in the delivery of the scheme in order to boost its take-up and M&S had previously indicated an interest.

Newcastle council, working with a number of other authorities across the North-east, is set to issue tender documents within the next three months for £80m of work to retrofit 15,000 homes. Leeds council, in partnership with nine local authorities across the Leeds city region, is drawing up plans that could see it leverage up to £75m to start retrofit work in a market it estimates could have a total value of £3.4bn.

Across the Pennines, the 10 councils that comprise Greater Manchester are considering investing £50m in a Green Deal programme, while Nottingham council is planning an £80m Green Deal contract.

Bristol council along with a range of partners is considering investing £34.6m in a programme, while West Sussex council is preparing a business case for a scheme that could see investment in the tens of millions”

Cities plan to invest billions in Green Deal retrofit work Building link

Running an eco friendly home – Infographic

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Interesting infographic courtesy Wickes via http://dailyinfographic.com/

Also interesting to note how many are of these are Green Deal measures and how many behaviour measures, indicating we get greater CO2 and energy reductions through lifestyle choices?

Green Deal Thoughts: Is green deal missing the behaviour measure?

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Could Green Deal fail it its core objective of reducing CO2?

Green Deal is a necessary and welcome approach to funding improvement to our built environment fabric, increasing the use of renewable energy, and importantly providing structure to eco-fit work via the awaited PAS 2030 standard.

Yet, could the Green Deal approach be seen as ‘too’ technical and not addressing user and occupant behaviour, increasingly recognised as the key ingredient to CO2 reduction in the built environment.

I was reminded at the recent Lancashire Best Practice Club green deal event that our comfort levels within homes and buildings has increased by around 7 degrees over the last two decades or so.

Those of us who grew up in the 60’s will recall the infamous morning frost on the inside of windows, since when, building insulation has improved, but at the same time we use more and more energy to improve our comfort levels.

There is a danger that, as Green Deal makes home and workplaces more energy efficient, users and occupiers, especially older and vulnerable tenants, will simply take advantage of the increased comfort level and keep their energy levels and costs as before. (And coupled with the Green Deal Loan charge could increase energy bills and repayments) There is also research that suggests what we save on heating bills we spend on other high CO2 emitting  gadgets or travel.

Alongside the measures within Green Deal we need user behaviour measures.

Perhaps one of the easiest would be the ability to openly benchmark our homes or offices against a CO2 league table of homes in the street, offices on a business park.

The technology and devices exist, see Pachube, the EPC iphone app I blogged on in 2010 and for example I can now easily and freely track my cycle rides against other riders on the same segment of road, on the Strava cycle app. Why not track my energy use against other homes and premises?

This behaviour approach now needs the promotion alongside Green Deal technical measures. And Green Deal Assessors have a prime opportunity to introduce such measures.

Related good reading

CIRS – Where occupants are seen as inhabitants and required to sign a sustainability charter

Tenant Behaviour: Five Keys to Meeting Environmental Performance Goals

Read Later Connections: from green deal to stargazing and sustainability

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A collection of articles saved to Instapaper this last week (mostly from Flipboard)

There is creative reading as well as creative writing.— Ralph Waldo Emerson

Inspiring landlords to take part in the Green Deal 

The UK Government are in the final planning stages of the Green Deal launch, their biggest home improvement scheme since the Second World War. The problems they face, however, are trying to get people involved and inspired enough to invest in the Green Deal.

‘Green’ solar cell made from plants news.cnet.com

A paper published in Scientific Reports today describes an improved method for making electricity-producing “biophotovoltaics” without the sophisticated laboratory equipment previously needed. Researchers said custom-designed chemicals could be mixed with green plants, even grass clippings, to create a photovoltaic material by harnessing photosynthesis.

Four hidden tricks for taking stellar iPhone photos by 

I hate to admit it, but my iPhone is always the first thing I reach for when I spot a photo-worthy scene. Sure, I own a digital camera, but my iPhone is always with me, packs an excellent camera, plus I have the option to edit and share photos instantly.

Why I’ve Stopped Pitching the Business Case for Sustainability By Jennifer Woofter

One of the most frequent questions that I get when I talk to people about my job as a sustainability consultant is this: How can I convince [my boss, my company, my crazy aunt, etc.] that sustainability makes good business sense?

Britain’s best stargazing locations telegraph.co.uk

One of the most ravishing sights on Earth should be the night sky – the brightest stars from the billions in our Milky Way, the streak of meteors, planetary neighbours such as Venus and Jupiter, the glow of other galaxies such as Andromeda.

Light pollution, however, means few experience this free glory.

AASHE Interview Series: John Robinson, Executive Director, UBC Sustainability Initiative

a detailed look into the making of a regenerative building, and what makes CIRS a new kind of “green” building.

John Robinson, the Executive Director of the University of British Columbia’s Sustainability Initiative sat down with AASHE to discuss the recently opened Centre for Interactive Research on Sustainability (CIRS) building.

Stunning Timelapse Video Shows the True Beauty of Yosemite treehugger.com

There’s nothing like a good timelapse video to showcase the beauty of a place or an event. When that place is Yosemite National Park, it’s a recipe for an especially jaw-dropping few minutes. This video, called “Yosemite HD,” is the product of Project Yosemite, a collaborative project by Sheldon Neill and Colin Delehanty to capture the true beauty of the national park.

Building the Sustainability Brand Within

When we think about sustainability strategy we typically think about a series of initiatives around energy efficiency, waste reduction, and product redesign. But our traditional focus on carbon audits and generating Corporate Sustainability Reports (CSR), while important, emphasizes data collection and does not necessarily engage people in ways that generate synergy and build scale. Few companies capitalize on the opportunities sustainability provides for widespread employee engagement and improving the company culture – in effect, “building the brand within.”

‘Microplastic’ threat to shores bbc.co.uk

Microscopic plastic debris from washing clothes is accumulating in the marine environment and could be entering the food chain, a study has warned. Researchers traced the “microplastic” back to synthetic clothes, which released up to 1,900 tiny fibres per garment every time they were washed. Earlier research showed plastic smaller than 1mm were being eaten by animals and getting into the food chain.

New Building Regs Part L to ‘trigger’ Green Deal

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Like many others the new Part L Building Regs will be on my reading list over the next few days. Others will surely comment in more depth than me, but I am interested in how the new proposals will trigger Green Deal.

Paragraph 85 is interesting.

Will this mean that Local Authorities will have the first option to trigger green deal works when a planning or building regs application is made? This could make LA’s one of the most important Green Deal Providers, a key client / flow of green deal work for installers, and a great opportunity for LA’s to act as Green Deal Assessors. (see my previous blog post on Local Authorities)

Also of note this refers to all buildings, not just domestic, opening the door for Green Deal within the commercial and public non domestic sector?

Interesting times.

Main Proposals to Existing Buildings:

85 …., and more significantly, we are proposing to extend the requirements  for ‘consequential improvements’. This is the term used to describe the use of the Building Regulations to trigger a requirement for extra energy efficiency works in a building where other controlled work is already taking place. The reason for proposing these changes now is to recognise the urgency of reducing emissions from the existing building stock, and, in a time of rising energy prices, to make homes and non-domestic buildings easier and cheaper to heat. It would also take advantage of a new market mechanism which has the potential to remove some of the existing barriers to action – the Green Deal.

Update: From DECC Green Deal Bulletin

DCLG yesterday launched their consultation on changes to the Building Regulations regime.  This includes a package of potential changes to support the Green Deal.  In summary, this includes new requirements for additional ‘consequential’ energy efficiency improvements where work (such as an extension or replacement windows or boilers) is already planned to an existing building and Green Deal funding is available as an option to meet the up-front costs.   Given DCLG estimate there are 200,000 extensions per year, 1.4 million boilers replacements and 1 million window replacements, this could be a significant demand driver for the Green Deal. 

In detail the proposals are:

  • From October 2012 (to coincide with the introduction of the Green Deal framework) DCLG are proposing that extensions and increases in habitable space (i.e. loft or integral garage conversions) in existing homes would trigger a requirement to carry out consequential energy efficiency improvements where these were technically, economically and functionally feasible.
  • From April 2014, the same requirement in existing non-domestic buildings would come into effect.
  • From April 2014 there is also the possibility of further regulation so that the replacement of a domestic boiler or the replacement of multiple domestic windows would also trigger a requirement for consequential improvements.  This would be restricted to a set list of lower cost measures (e.g. draught proofing or loft insulation).

If you wish to consider responding to the consultation,  the deadline for comments related to the Green Deal is 27 March 2012. Further information can be found on the DCLG website.

Green Deal Needs a Radical Boost to Succeed, warns Federation of Master Builders

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Yesterdays, press release from the FMB illustrates the frustation developing within Green Deal and hindering preparation for Green Deal and addressing the requirements of PAS 2030 and Code of Practice.

These are the same frustrations I hear from green deal related workshops I am engaged in, on one hand their is promise of work, the biggest home and property improvement programme since the 2nd world war, and on the other hand far too much confusion. The result is that many contractors and installers who do the scope of measures to be covered by Green Deal are just not engaging, playing the green deal or not green deal waiting game.

Danger, is of course that when green deal does go live there will not be many accredited (PAS 2030 etc) contractors and installers available

FMB Press Release reads:

The Government’s Green Deal initiative to makes our homes more energy efficient is in danger of failing at the first hurdle unless it provides a range of additional incentives to encourage householders to take it up, warns the Federation of Master Builders (FMB) in its response to the Government’s Green Deal consultation, which closes on Wednesday (18th January 2012).

Brian Berry, Director of External Affairs at the FMB said:
“With rising energy bills there is an urgent need to improve the energy efficiency of our housing stock as it is far less energy efficient than that of our European neighbours’. However, householders will need to be convinced of the value of retrofitting their home particularly when the price is having a new charge attached to their electricity bill. The quickest and easiest way to create consumer demand would be to reduce VAT on Green Deal improvements or reduce Stamp Duty.”

Berry continued:
“Another concern is how local building companies will be able to access the Green Deal given that few, if any, will become recognized Green Deal Providers because of the onerous conditions attached to providing the finance packages. This is a lost opportunity as it is the local builder who is best placed to advise householders about energy efficient improvements when they are carrying out other home improvements or repairs.

Berry added:
“The Government has rightly tacked the need to eliminate rogue traders by insisting on the need to have Green Deal accredited installers. Local builders already have many of the key skills in place to carry out energy efficiency improvements but now they need an operational accreditation framework that enables them to demonstrate their skills and knowledge at the standard required. The Government’s delay in approving recognised competency schemes is not helpful and swift action is needed if the building industry is going to be ready for the launch in October. We know that the Green Deal has the potential to create some 65,000 new construction jobs which is why it is so important that we have the training courses ready at the earliest possible opportunity.”

Berry concluded:
“We want the Green Deal to be a success but it won’t be unless the Government considers seriously the need to introduce fiscal incentives for homeowners, creates a level playing field to enable local building companies to access the market, and ensures that training courses are quickly approved to accredit local builders.”